Alderman sues MPD for access to video on parking ticket complaint
Aug. 2—Joe Kelly Levasseur is suing Manchester police after the department refused to release a video statement from a city parking attendant who filed a complaint against the alderman following a heated exchange between the two earlier this year.
Levasseur filed the complaint in Hillsborough Superior Court-North seeking access to public records after Manchester police said releasing the video statement would constitute an "invasion of privacy," because it was taken with a police body-worn camera.
A hearing on the matter is expected in the coming weeks.
Levasseur filed a Right-to-Know request seeking materials related to a complaint filed against him by a woman identified in court documents as Robin Dunmyer, a part-time city parking attendant. Dunmyer wrote Levasseur a ticket Jan. 26 for parking in an area on Elm Street reserved for city buses after a bus couldn't pull into the zone to take on passengers and was blocking traffic.
Her complaint, filed Jan. 28 with Manchester police, claims Levasseur told Dunmyer, "What the f- — are you doing? I can't believe you're doing this. Do you know who the hell I am?"
Levasseur — who is running for reelection to his alderman at-large seat this fall — told the Union Leader he paid the $50 ticket, and said he filed the Right-to-Know request because he was "suspicious" of Dunmyer's motives in filing the complaint, and believes she was being "coached and pushed to go to the police."
"Everywhere we look we see Democrat politicians weaponizing government to go after its perceived enemies," Levasseur said Friday. "This parking ticket fiasco is a microcosm of what is going on in this country. A fake scandal to make an opponent look bad to get a fake story and headline while trying to destroy that person's chance to get re-elected."
In his Right-to-Know request, Levasseur asked for any recording, tape recorded or videotaped, of the complainant or any other person interviewed in connection with the incident.
On April 12, Manchester Police Capt. Peter Marr responded to the request by writing, "Sgt. Lovejoy interviewed the complainant in this case and there is a recording of that interview via his body camera. However, body camera footage can only be released when there is a restraint/use of force issue, the discharge of a firearm, or a felony level arrest. Furthermore, releasing this information would constitute an invasion of privacy."
In his complaint, Levasseur argues the "invasion of privacy" exception cited by police fails because Dunmyer was a city employee; drafted an email to her boss with her name in the email; the email was sent to several city employees and aldermen; and the police report contains her name.
"This body camera interview was done with the intent of getting the parking attendant to file a 'false' claim so a one-sided police report could be generated for the press, and it worked," said Levasseur. "No doubt, she was promised I would never get a copy of that video statement because MPD found a loophole in the body cam statute and the Right-to-Know law. The real question everyone should be asking and we are entitled to know, is how many other times have police departments throughout the state pulled this pathetic stunt."
Manchester Police Public Information Officer Heather Hamel said Chief Allen Aldenberg had no comment on the lawsuit. City Solicitor Emily Rice also declined comment, saying the city is represented in the matter by Nashua-based attorney Brian Cullen. A request for comment sent to Cullen last week received no response.
Levasseur is seeking the release of the body-camera interview footage, and reimbursement by Manchester police for any filing and service fees.
"The video is not an internal personnel practice nor constitutes confidential, commercial or financial information," Levasseur wrote in his complaint. "The person making the statement is a city employee who was allegedly performing her parking attendant duties and getting paid by taxpayers to do so. In this case there is no valid privacy interest to be asserted."
