Judge orders Denver police "spy files" released


More than a decade of police surveillance files on activist groups made public
Scary stuff here.

A former head of the Denver Police Department’s intelligence bureau misled Chief Gerry Whitman and top city administrators into believing officers were complying with federal guidelines when spying on protesters, according to documents released last week.

The documents also indicated that Police Department officials knew as early as May 1998 that such spying was a legal liability.

Hundreds of pages of documents and depositions were released Jan. 27 in compliance with a decision last month by Denver District Judge Catherine Lemon. Ruling in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, Lemon ordered that documents relating to more than a decade of police surveillance of various activist groups had to be made public.

Whitman was unavailable for comment, a spokesman said. ACLU Legal Director Mark Silverstein reserved comment until he could review all the documents.

The ACLU sued on behalf of two community activists for access to the files. Stephen and Vickie Nash, vocal members of CopWatch, had asked the Police Department for access to the names of the officers who authorized and carried out improper spying on the couple and information on the resulting discipline.

Two things I really want to stress.

First, once abuse became a part of the accepted way, it was rampant and used at the very least provocation. "The ends justified the means."

Second, this predated George W. Bush being elected. It's a problem with the system, not with whichever party happens to be in power at the time.

Hat tip to Wren's Nest.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Tue - January 31, 2006 at 04:52 PM  Tag


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