A local sheriff, accused of secretly recording and then demoting a deputy who called him “anal,” says that the female deputy’s federal lawsuit is nothing more than low-down, last-minute electioneering.
The deputy, Deborah Phelps, alleges in an Oct. 27 federal lawsuit that in late 2005 she had been promoted provisionally to sergeant by David Harder, her boss and the Broome County sheriff. But when a detective secretly recorded Phelps disparaging Harder and accusing him of misusing department resources while she spoke with a confidential informant — and then passed the video on to Harder — her promotion evaporated.
Harder, who today is up for re-election to a third four-year term as Broome County’s top cop, called the timing of the lawsuit “political.”
“I think it’s kind of funny that this thing happened in November of last year, and it’s coming up now at elections time,” Harder said in a phone interview Monday night.
Phelps said that she has spent the intervening year between the Nov. 10 recording and the filing of the lawsuit, navigating the bureaucratic mire of the Sheriff’s Department’s disciplinary processes, having her complaint bounced around between county and state offices and finding an out-of-town lawyer who would agree to take the case.
“I was trying other avenues. The last thing I wanted to do was file a civil lawsuit,” Phelps said Monday.
In the suit, Phelps and her attorney, Bob Keach of Troy, N.Y., also name as defendants Broome County, Undersheriff Gary O’Neill, Lieutenant Michael Fedish and Kate Newcomb, the detective who recorded the tape.
Newcomb, in a statement included in the court paperwork, said she overheard Phelps telling the informant, while they were in one of the department’s interrogation rooms, that the sheriff had passed her over for over 10 promotions, and that he “could eat a shit sandwich because he had to promote her.”
Newcomb then went to another room and activated the interrogation room’s hidden recording equipment (the camera was concealed within a faux smoke detector, much like those placed in the corridors of Newing College’s Broome Hall early 2005 to help curb dorm vandalism) and recorded Phelps making the “anal” remark. She was also accused of saying that the sheriff placed a higher priority on sending deputies to parades than to road patrols.
Newcomb then gave the tape to Fedish and then to the sheriff. Harder then took away Phelps’ promotion because speaking ill of another member of the department while on duty is against the rules.
Phelps and her lawyer say that Newcomb’s recording — and, therefore, Phelps’ demotion — was illegal, since neither of the people in the room knew it was happening and no written warnings had been posted. They also say that any cases in which an attorney and a suspect conferred in that particular room should be revisited, since they may have been recorded too.
“This is a clear violation of the wiretapping statute,” Keach said Friday. “Crystal clear, no debate. Federal law is very clear: you cannot audio tape someone without a court order or a warrant.”
“We don’t agree with Mr. Keach,” Harder said. “I’ve already had the county attorneys here, they’ve looked into it, and I think we’re going to be a good shape.”
And Harder said that it was common knowledge around the department that the recorder was there, although he couldn’t vouch for whether Phelps or anyone else specifically knew about it.
“It’s not like I snuck that into the room,” he said. “It’s been there for four years. The district attorney bought the equipment used in that room.” The DA was not available for comment Monday night.
The case should start moving sometime next year. In the meantime, Phelps is standing her ground — both in her job and in her active campaigning for the Democratic candidates for sheriff and undersheriff, Ray Schaffer and Rick Wallikas.
“I’m not running away,” Phelps said. “They’re highly intelligent, highly qualified people who deserve the position. The sheriff is allowing questionable incidents to occur at the department, and I feel bad … that the county has to represent him, and taxpayers have to pay his lawyers’ bills. I don’t think the taxpayers should have to pay anything for this crap,” Phelps said.