12/10/2025
Closing Arguments Scheduled in South Bend Police Tapes Case
https://www.redresssouthbend.com/post/closing-arguments-scheduled-in-south-bend-police-tapes-case
For years, South Bend Police Department (SBPD) officers used a department phone line that recorded their conversations without their knowledge or consent. A 64-page court document filed on Dec. 1, 2025, titled “the Intervenors’ Trial Brief,” describes, in detail, how the recordings occurred and why the SBPD officers argue that this violated both Indiana and Federal Wiretap laws. After seeing more than a decade of litigation, the case is finally scheduled for closing arguments on March 5, 2026, before St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Jamie Woods in Mishawaka.
According to the Intervenors’ Trial Brief, the phone line at the center of the dispute, known as "6031", was originally recorded lawfully in the early 2000s when it was assigned to Officer Rick Bishop. Bishop worked in a division where calls were routinely captured on the department’s voice logger and Bishop signed a consent form authorizing his recordings.
In 2007, when Bishop was later promoted to Division Chief of the Investigative Division (now commonly known as the "Detectives Bureau"), Bishop no longer worked in a unit that used monitored phone lines. That being said, line 6031 remained physically wired into the voice logger.
In 2010, Captain Steve Richmond was promoted to Division Chief of the Investigative Division, replacing Chief Bishop in that role. Richmond requested to bring his long-used line ending in 7473 with him. Because Bishop moved to another building, he was unable to bring line 6031 with him. Brian Young was promoted to Captain of the Investigative Division in 2010, and was placed in the office which phone line 6031 (formerly Bishop's recorded line) was connected. This meant that all of Captain Brian Young's calls were being recorded without his knowledge or consent.
-
The Intervenors’ Trial Brief also identifies the SBPD’s "Voice Logger" as the "Dynamic Instruments Reliance server-based analog recording system".
According to the Brief:
• “The Voice Logger could record forty-eight (48) separate channels, with each channel consisting of one phone line, one base station, or one radio channel.”
• “The Voice Logger was voice-activated and would record any conversations that occurred on any telephone line hard-wired into the Voice Logger twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.”
• “To record a particular telephone line, the telephone line had to be hard-wired into the recording system.”
Because line 6031 remained physically connected, it continued to record automatically until it was physically disconnected, regardless of who used the phone or whether they consented to being recorded.
Recording of 6031 continued even after SBPD's comms director, Karen DePaepe, discovered the error
In early 2011, SBPD Communications Director Karen DePaepe accessed the channel assigned to line 6031 and recognized Captain Brian Young’s voice. According to the brief, DePaepe understood immediately that line 6031 should not have been recorded. Yet the recording of line 6031 and Captain Brian Young's calls continued for “three to four (additional) weeks”. The Brief states that for "three to four weeks," Depaepe did not notify Captain Young, Chief Richmond (Young's Supervisor), the Police Chief, or Internal Affairs about the unauthorized recordings.
-
Three to four weeks after discovering that line 6031 was recording Captain Brian Young’s calls, Communications Director Karen DePaepe notified then Police Chief Darryl Boykins of the unauthorized recordings. According to the Trial Brief, Boykins instructed DePaepe to provide him with selected recordings from the line. The brief states that Boykins intended to review the calls to determine “whether or not he was going to demote, discipline, or even fire those he considered to be disloyal or a backstabber.” The filing also notes that Boykins approved the continued recording of Young’s line for what he described as his investigative purposes.
In 2012, physical cassette tapes containing recorded conversations between SBPD officers were turned over to department leadership. According to a May 2021 cross examination, DePaepe acknowledged that there were five audio cassettes created, spanning eight conversations.
The dispute has wound through federal and state courts since 2012. The Seventh Circuit ultimately sent the case back to Indiana courts to determine whether the recordings complied with the Indiana Wiretap Act. The intervenors maintain that line 6031 was never lawfully recorded after Bishop left.
-
Closing arguments will take place at the Civil Division courthouse in Mishawaka. Judge Woods has not indicated when he will rule, but the hearing represents the closest the case has come to resolution since the recordings were discovered more than a decade ago.
Closing Arguments Scheduled in South Bend Police Tapes Case By Logan Foster Redress South Bend Dec 9, 2025 For years, South Bend Police Department (SBPD) officers used a department phone line that recorded their conversations without their knowledge or consent. A 64-page court document filed on Dec....
