The Bug Stopped Here - Ireland's Police Chief Resigns

Ireland's police chief resigned Tuesday following months of criticism of how his force handled allegations of illegal wire-tapping and corrupt enforcement of traffic laws. 

Underscoring a growing sense of public unease at police standards and behavior, government leaders announced that they would open a judge-led probe into new revelations that telephone calls at many police stations had been illegally recorded since the 1980s.

The government said it didn't yet know why the widespread recording was secretly happening. Security analysts said it could partly reflect an effort by senior commanders to monitor rank-and-file officers' communications...

It said a judge would be appointed to examine why police had secretly recorded telephone conversations in and out of many police stations for several years, a practice ended only in November after the first wire-tap scandal became public knowledge. (more)