Darryl Boykins

South Bend Common Council President Canneth Lee has called a closed door meeting for Wednesday over whether the council should appeal a judge's ruling in favor of officers in the South Bend Police Tapes Case.

After a 14-year legal fight between the South Bend Common Council, city administration and a group of officers, St. Joseph Superior Judge Jamie Woods on Thursday ruled the city must destroy the recordings of officers, some of the allegedly saying racially offensive things, because they were made without the officers' consent, in violation of the Indiana and federal wiretap acts.

The 13-year-old case pits the South Bend Common Council against the city administration, after the city blocked council attempts to hear recorded phone calls where officers allegedly said racist things about then-Police Chief Darryl Boykins, the city's first Black chief.

The case stems from a 2011 incident in which a South Bend Police Department staffer says she found recordings of officers saying racist things about Chief Darryl Boykins.

Boykins in the 1990s combined his loves of tennis and boxing with his passion for mentoring youth to create the Police Athletic League.

Tapes allegedly contain racist comments and discussions of illegal activity.

Former South Bend Police Darryl Boykins was involved in a fatal car crash on Sunday.According to a release from the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office,…