Espionage concerns reach into all levels of politics. We have been called in on cases where a mayor suspected the chief of police may have bugged his office, and where the local police department thought the town council may have bugged their offices.
Here we find the N.H. State Police were called in to investigate allegations that the Nelson Town Hall may have been bugged with an electronic eavesdropping device.
N.H. State Police investigate allegations of wiretapping at Nelson’s town hall
NELSON — An investigation into whether town officials illegally wiretapped conversations at the Nelson Town Hall is now with the Cheshire County Attorney’s Office, police said.
N.H. State Police say they recently wrapped up a nearly two-month probe into the case.
On March 28, State Police executed a search warrant at the town hall on Nelson Common Road, and, afterward, interviewed residents and town officials about allegations that conversations in and/or around the building were being recorded, said State Police Sgt. Shawn M. Skahan in an interview Thursday.
Nelson, NH Town Hall
“There was an investigation into members of the town of Nelson,” he said. “The original complaint was about the possibility of someone recording or eavesdropping on conversations in the town office using an electronic device.”
The alleged eavesdropping could have begun as far back as early 2013, according to police.
Police seized a couple of video cameras and computers from the town hall, and those electronic devices remain in the authorities’ possession, Skahan said.
The search warrant detailing their probe is under seal until June 3.
State Police have forwarded their findings to the Cheshire County Attorney’s Office in Keene. Prosecutors there will decide whether “there is any true wrongdoing, or if a criminal act was committed,” Skahan said. “If we charge, we want to make sure we are charging the right people with the right things.”
State laws on wiretapping and eavesdropping are complex, especially when the matter at hand concerns government offices and a public building, he said.
[Read More: www.sentinalsource.com]
I predict this may just be a case of someone with a grudge wanting to make trouble for the town. They may have security cameras that allow for audio recording, or they probably also have audio equipment already set up with recording capability for their meetings. The question would be whether this equipment was used improperly. If you have a security dvr or camera that also records audio- you may be guilty of eavesdropping; if you have an audio system that allows nosy people to snoop- you could also have eavesdropping charges brought against you. (Note that the writer here makes a common mistake of referring to the case as wiretapping but this would actually be a case of eavesdropping with bugging devices, as no wires were reportedly tapped.) It will be interesting to see what develops.