Mayor Kilpatrick issues new rule: City text messages private

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick issued what appears to be an about-face on the city's technology policy to employees today, which tells staffers that their text messages are private even if the city pays for the electronic devices used to send the messages.

Kilpatrick early in his first term signed off on a directive to his staff that "all electronic communications" sent on city equipment should be considered public. The directive comes amid ongoing criminal proceedings about text messages Kilpatrick sent on his city-issued SkyTel pager that are now the linchpin of prosecutors' claims he perjured himself during a police whistle-blower trial last year and obstructed justice afterward with an $8.4 million settlement.

The new memo reads:

Whether the city does or does not pay for the devices, you will have certain privacy rights in the personal messages that you send and receive," the memo reads, which was signed by Kilpatrick.

It is dated April 15, 2008, but it was distributed to many employees and Detroit City Council members today.

"City policies are always subject to review and update," Kilpatrick spokesman James Canning said in a statement today

The previous five-page public records directive, enacted in 1998 under Mayor Dennis Archer and re-authorized by Kilpatrick early in his first term, cautioned that any communication "is not considered to be personal or private" and that even if the user deletes an item, it is stored.