NEW ORLEANS -- A joint Louisiana state police and FBI task force is investigating allegations that the New Orleans Saints set up general manager Mickey Loomis' booth in the Superdome so he could listen in on opposing coaches.

State police Col. Mike Edmonson confirmed the joint effort Tuesday after discussing the matter with Dave Welker, special agent in charge at the FBI's New Orleans field office. The two offices began their joint probe before ESPN's story surfaced.

"I thought that was an excellent opportunity to share resources to see if federal or state wiretapping laws were in fact broken," Edmonson said by phone from Baton Rouge. "It's important for the public to know these are allegations at this point. We will thoroughly, expeditiously, but fairly look into whether any laws have been broken. If they have, we'll sit down with the district attorney in that area to determine how to proceed."

Loomis and the Saints have called the allegations "1,000 percent false," and have said they are reviewing legal recourse after an ESPN "Outside The Lines" report on Monday in which anonymous sources described a setup that would have allowed the general manager to eavesdrop on opponents from 2002 to 2004. ESPN could not verify the system was used.

"It's absolutely ludicrous. It's impossible," interim Saints coach Joe Vitt said of the wiretapping allegations on Tuesday. "I've never heard of it before. That's something from 'Star Wars.' When I first heard something about it being a wiretap, I thought they were talking about Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano or something. I didn't even know what they were talking about.

" ... And then to associate Mickey with that? That's irresponsible. It's a shame."

Vitt is serving in head coach Sean Payton's place during Payton's season-long suspension in connection with the NFL's bounty investigation of New Orleans. Vitt himself will have to serve a six-game suspension for his role in the cash-for-big hits system the Saints ran from 2009-11, and Loomis will be out for eight games.

Vitt said he has worked with Loomis 17 years in the NFL, dating to their early days in the league together in Seattle, and that one of the reasons he joined the Saints in 2006 was because he understands Loomis' core beliefs.

"Anybody that ever wants to question Mickey's integrity on something like this. I mean, this is juvenile," Vitt said. "This is so bad, what's been reported, and it's irresponsible. It really is. ... I just know it's not true. I know what Mickey's meant in my life and I know what he's meant in the lives of a lot of people around this league and you can't get anybody to find fault with Mickey Loomis. That's just the truth."

Still, the alleged actions would violate NFL rules, if not state and federal laws.

A person familiar with the situation told The Washington Post on Tuesday that league officials plan to allow the legal process to conclude before taking action. It's the same protocol the NFL normally uses with players involved in legal cases.

Edmonson said he is aware that statutes of limitations -- six years under state wiretapping laws -- may hinder prosecution but added, "Let's find out if any laws have been broken first, and that's what we're doing right now. It's up to us to find out facts and get with the district attorney, who will then decide" if the time to prosecute has passed.

The statute of limitations for federal wiretapping crimes is generally five years.