Denver cops accused of spying on journalists
Submitted by Reverend Chuck0:Cops accused of spying on journalists
Lawyer says police may also have aided private companies
By Kevin Vaughan, Rocky Mountain News
February 4, 2003
Denver police intelligence bureau officers may have conducted background checks for private companies and spied on journalists, a lawyer charged Monday.
The allegations were raised in federal court by an attorney for the American Friends Service Committee, one of several groups and individuals who are part of a lawsuit against Denver that contends the city's police department violated their free speech rights when its officers gathered intelligence at peaceful demonstrations.
The attorney, Lino Lipinsky, said it was important to know whether information from background checks ended up in the "spy files" that are at the root of the lawsuit.
"We don't know yet, but we need to have discovery on these issues," Lipinsky said in a hearing before federal magistrate Craig Shaffer.
The "spy files" came to light nearly a year ago when the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit on behalf of six groups and individuals who had been the subject of intelligence bureau investigations. The Denver Police Department later disclosed that its intelligence officers had gathered information on more than 3,000 groups and individuals as part of a practice that dated back to the 1950s.
