A judge has asked lawyers representing the South Bend Common Council, several police officers, and South Bend mayor to resolve their dispute over police phone conversations in mediation.  The legal battle regarding the incident has raged for six years and the issue at hand is over who should be permitted to hear the recordings.

Should the two sides opt to forego mediation because they do not consider a viable way to resolve the dispute, the judge said he would rule within 30 days of their decision.

The dispute began when Mayor Pete Buttigieg asked the recordings be removed from the case after the court receives the recordings that were subpoenaed in 2012.  The mayor’s administration argued the recordings violated laws related to wiretapping at both the federal and state levels.  Several of the officers involved also claim the release of the tapes would violate their privacy.  The mayor’s administration said it will only hand them over per a court order.

According to the council, state law allows the tapes to be heard as long as long as the content related to why the firings occurred.  The attorney for the council plans to argue the city should not be allowed to hand the tapes over and exit the case, especially since the city has refused to comply with the subpoena and dragged the case on longer than necessary.

Members of the public and news media have also requested copies of the recordings of the phone conversations.  There is also concern over whether the way these tapes are handled will have an effect on how future recordings would be handled.