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Police 'spy files' assailed
ACLU criticism spurs city review of log on protesters
By Sean Kelly
Denver Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 12, 2002 - Denver police have been keeping secret "spy files" on
local activists and protest groups, the American Civil Liberties Union said Monday,
prompting Mayor Wellington Webb to call for a review of department procedure.
The ACLU of Colorado produced copies of two police records documenting
protesters at recent demonstrations held by groups such as Amnesty International
and the Justice for Mena Committee.
Keeping such records could have a chilling effect on peaceful protests, said Mark
Silverstein, legal director of the local chapter. The group called on the city to end
the
practice and open the files to public scrutiny. The ACLU may file a lawsuit if the
surveillance continues, he said.
"It's our position that people in Denver should feel free to peacefully protest and to
peacefully express their views," said Silverstein, who would not divulge how his
group obtained the records.
"The Constitution protects those rights."
Webb "believes they raise some very legitimate issues," said his spokesman,
Andrew Hudson. "He was unaware these intelligence files were being kept and he
wants more information from the Police Department to explain how those types of
files are being used."
C.L. Harmer, spokeswoman for Manager of Safety Ari Zavaras, said the files are
kept for a maximum of five years and are considered "highly confidential" raw data
only available to the intelligence division - not patrol or traffic officers. She
could not
say how many total files exist.
"It's not the police's intent to dampen free speech or lawful political activity,"
Harmer
said. "You shouldn't be concerned as long as you're being lawful. But if you engage
in civil disobedience, the consequences are that you may be arrested."
Police Chief Gerry Whitman is out of the office this week. His two immediate
predecessors, retired Chief David Michaud and Capt. Tom Sanchez, said these files
were not kept on their watch.
"There was no concerted effort to keep track of who was at protests," said Michaud,
who retired in 1998. "(Police) are there to monitor and look for law violations."
"We have no business keeping tabs, and we didn't do that. You shouldn't be keeping
dossiers on law-abiding citizens," agreed Sanchez, whom Whitman replaced in 2000.
Representatives from the mayor's office met with Deputy Chief Dave Abrams on
Monday.
Webb will ask police exactly how long they've been keeping files.
"We don't know if they go back five years or 40 years," Hudson said. "Quite frankly, it
will be interesting to see if there's a file on Mayor Webb."
For Webb, it's a personal matter. In 1977, an FBI informant admitted he had spied on
then- U.S. Rep. Pat Schroeder and other Colorado politicians, including Webb, then
a state representative.
Monday, Silverstein demanded Webb put a stop to the surveillance. He also called
for public disclosure of the files and notification of anyone listed in them. The files
should be preserved, he said, because they may become evidence in an upcoming
suit.
Stephen Nash, a well-known activist who has participated in demonstrations with
Amnesty International, the Justice for Mena Committee and other groups, is the
subject of one report.
In the report, police say Nash was "seen" at a Justice for Mena rally and anti-
Columbus Day protest. It also lists his wife, his cars and his address.
Two groups to which he belongs - the American Friends Service Committee and End
the Politics of Cruelty - are classified as "Criminal Extremist."
Nash angrily denied that label - he has a clean criminal record - and said the police
tactics belong in a Third World country.
"The police are operating their own political agenda when they're supposed to be an
agency of the city," he said.
Another group, the Chiapas Coalition, which protests human rights violations of
indigenous people in Mexico, publicized its file. Members of the group were arrested
for disrupting a 1999 luncheon featuring Gov. Bill Owens, but none was convicted.
Spokesman Kerry Appel, however, said that is no reason for the authorities to keep
"spy files" on the group.
"I am already convinced in my heart it is a violation of our rights," Appel said.
Hispanic activist Nita Gonzales said the files harken back to COINTELPRO, the
FBI's infamous surveillance and disruption of protest groups that ended after coming
to light in the 1970s.
Gonzales said she recently was told by Zavaras and Whitman that no such files exist
in Denver. She said she will push the city's leaders to enact a municipal ordinance
banning the practice. Everyone in the files should be frightened, she said.
"You're profiled already. It puts you in danger and at riGonzales said.
Silverstein cited municipal laws in San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, Ore., that
prohibit police departments from gathering information because of a person's political
or religious beliefs. He said similar laws should be enacted in Denver.
Denver Post staff writer Marilyn Robinson contributed to this report.
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