Calls to City Hall now being recorded
By SHANNON CRABTREE newsdesk@leader-news.com

All calls to and from El Campo City Hall and most other municipal buildings are now being recorded although it is unlikely anyone will every listen to the time-stamped digital files.

Set up to record 9-1-1 calls and police radio traffic as well as other phone conversations in and out of the police department, the recording system actually captures all traffic on the city of El Campo's T-1 line.

"The new phone system and recording system does not allow us to separate (police department) calls from other city departments," El Campo Police Chief Jim Elliott told the Leader-News.

Only he and ECPD Capt. Terry Marek have access to the recordings stored on a hard drive in the police department.

When citizens call City Hall now, the first voice they hear is a recorded message saying, "For quality assurance, your call is being recorded."

The message was added, City Manager John Steelman said, at the advice of the city attorney.

Then the phone rings and is answered.

"I have no concerns about a privacy issue," Elliott said. "All these phones are purchased by the city for city business. I have no problem recording my conversations while I'm working."

Each recording is created by date and time. The data is not screened for content.

The only time it should be reviewed is if becomes part of a criminal case or complaint against an employee.

"We have the capability of retrieving and e-mailing the recordings," Elliott said, adding that, for example, "We copies of several radio, 9-1-1 and phone recordings in the fatality accident on Hwy. 71 North at FM 2546 (in August). They were e-mailed to DPS who requested the information for the crash investigation.

"The recordings (also) have been used in internal investigations, many times clearing an employee of alleged misconduct," the chief said.

The system automatically stores calls. When full it purges the oldest files to replace them with the new.

"Data may be stored for one to two years, depending on the volume," Elliott said.