Police Chief Ends Probe That Involved Reporter's Phone Records

By: Police chief John Harrington said on Thursday his department would pursue "less intrusive" methods during future investigations involving journalists, but he stopped short of promising that officers would never again use a search warrant to seek information about a reporter.

Harrington's comments came after news broke this week that officers obtained a search warrant to examine a TV reporter's phone records.

Harrington said KMSP-TV reporter Tom Lyden was never the focus of a probe of how a police report got out after officers had decided it wasn't public. The investigation, which Harrington has now closed, came about after the station in June aired Lyden's story about a woman whose husband had shot a plainclothes police officer during a traffic dispute in Coon Rapids.

The Society of Professional Journalists had decried the search of Lyden's phone records, calling it "an attack on the First Amendment." University of Minnesota media law professor Jane Kirtley also questioned the move, citing a state law protecting reporters from divulging their sources.

"We believe pretty strongly in the First Amendment," Harrington said. "If there were errors in judgment, they sit with me."

Lyden's phone records were sought to confirm whether he had spoken with a Ramsey County sheriff's deputy, who police believed had released the information, Harrington said.

"I regret the concern ... that Mr. Lyden has had here. I believe he got caught up as a part of an ongoing investigation," Harrington said at a news conference in his office Thursday. "It was never our intention to damage Mr. Lyden."

The chief also acknowledged that the information Lyden sought was public, echoing earlier sentiments by Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher, who had called actions by the St. Paul police an "abuse of authority."

As of Thursday afternoon, Lyden said he hadn't received an apology from Harrington and called the chief's explanation "shamefully inadequate." He also said he was concerned about Harrington's announcement that the search warrants would be unsealed.

"I want my records back and we want any copies destroyed," Lyden said.

Harrington said his officers withheld the information from Lyden initially because the woman involved in the report had been a domestic violence victim.

"If we erred at all in doing this, we erred on the side of trying to protect the public," Harrington said.

But Lyden said Harrington failed to rectify the situation.

"I'm more concerned than ever," he said. "It's not about me. It's really about reporters. It's really about the people who put their faith in us every single day."