At least three politicians in Northern Nevada, including Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve, were under surveillance by private detectives during the 2022 election season.
A story co-produced by KUNR in Reno, The Nevada Independent and APM Reports indicates that at least one of the private detectives involved in the surveillance had been hired in 2022 for undisclosed activities by prominent Republicans in Washoe County.
Nevada’s campaign-finance laws don’t require the specific purposes of the expenditures to be revealed. One of the private detectives, David McNeeley, told police that he was responsible for placing an electronic GPS tracker on a car driven by Schieve, labeling the action as “political.”
While GPS trackers are not illegal in Nevada, the electronic tracking of a person’s movements is prohibited in 26 states and the District of Columbia, and Schieve and former Washoe County Commissioner Vaughn Hartung have filed an invasion-of-privacy suit against McNeeley over the installation of those GPS devices.
