Published: June 23, 2009 11:09 am      

Wilder incident brings back photographic memories

City officials have confirmed that photos of Jeffersonville attorney Larry Wilder passed out in his neighbor’s trash can following a night of drinking last week were taken by a Jeffersonville Police Department officer with a JPD-issued camera.

Other questions, however, remain unanswered. Who exactly took the photos and who subsequently leaked them to local media outlets are part of an investigation Mayor Tom Galligan says is under way.

What will become of the officer or officers found to be responsible for the leak also is unknown, as city officials and residents debate what Galligan calls an abuse of police power perpetuated by personal or political motivations.

The leak of police photos is not an entirely unfamiliar situation to local officials, although every situation produces unique circumstances, according to one local attorney previously involved in a similar case.

It was more than a year ago that photos taken by Clarksville police of a 17-year-old boy who got stuck in a heating duct while allegedly trying to break into a local restaurant were leaked to the public. The incident triggered an internal investigation at the Clarksville Police Department in May 2008, and the filing of a notice of tort claim by the teenager’s family against the police department.

Steve Voelker, the attorney who filed that claim on the family’s behalf, said there are obvious differences between the Wilder incident and the one in Clarksville.

The teenager was a minor — whose identities are usually protected by police and the media. Additionally, the photos of the boy were never given to the press, but instead they were shown around at a local barbershop and allegedly hung on a bulletin board there. In contrast, the photos of Wilder leaked to the local press eventually found their way to national media outlets.

And lastly, Wilder was not charged with any crime, while there were criminal charges to consider in the Clarksville case.

Voelker said the filing of the tort claim in the Clarksville case was made to essentially inform the town that the family believed wrongdoing had occurred.

“We just wanted to put on record how mad the family was,” Voelker said in an interview Monday.

Typically, notices of tort claims are a prelude to a lawsuit against a government entity, wherein a civil rights violation has allegedly occurred. However, Voelker said a suit was never filed in the case, because there were very few damage claims to be made; the boy didn’t lose his job or anything of that nature.

Voelker said he doesn’t see the cases as being entirely similar.

“That’s a really difficult question,” he said.

But when asked if Wilder had grounds to file a lawsuit, Voelker responded, “not from anything I’ve seen.”

“[Wilder] is a public figure. It was probably done to hold him up to ridicule, but the question would be: Does the city have a written rule on what should be done with photos?” he said.

Jeffersonville Mayor Tom Galligan addressed that issue during a press conference Sunday, saying that there was no written protocol, but it should have been understood that that photos should not be shared.

Voelker said the photos were evidence and would have to have been released to media on request, because they would have been a public record.

In an interview last week, Wilder said he would not file a complaint against the police department and didn’t believe anyone should be punished for releasing the photos. However, he asked the officers who did release the photos to apologize to his children.

That apology to Wilder’s children came on Sunday — but from Galligan, not police. Galligan has not said what will become of the officer or officers who distributed the photos.

When Clarksville police released the photos last year, Assistant Police Chief David Ross called it a “very serious matter.”

About the same time, Clark County Prosecutor Steve Stewart wrote a letter asking Clarksville Police Chief Dwight Ingle to take whatever steps to stop further release of evidence in the case.

It’s unclear who took the photos of the teenager stuck in the air duct, who released them and if that person is still employed by the police department. On Monday, Ross declined to comment on the fate of the Clarksville officer who released the photos last year.