PRESS
ADVISORY – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 18, 2002
Contact:
Glenn Morris: gmorris@carbon.cudenver.edu
Mark Cohen: buildingbridges@mindspring.com
ALL
NATIONS ALLIANCE CALLS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY FOR SPY FILES
Community Groups Ask For Investigations by City Auditor and PSRC
The All
Nations Alliance (ANA), a coalition of over 80 community-based social justice
organizations, will hold a press conference Thursday, December 19, 2002, 10
a.m., Wellington E. Webb Administration Building, 201 West Colfax, to demand
accountability for the illegal “spy files” surveillance activities by the Denver
Police Department (DPD).
Wednesday’s articles in the Denver Post and the Denver Rocky Mountain News have
only reinforced what the people of Denver already knew: that DPD has wasted time
and resources investigating people and organizations who were clearly not
engaged in, or even suspected of, criminal activity—people and organizations who
were specifically singled out for
surveillance because of their advocacy of particular political positions. No one
has yet been held accountable for these violations. Without such accountability,
there is no reason to believe that such violations will not recur in the future.
The DPD can no longer be allowed to engage in such abuses of power with
impunity.
In a time of tight budgets, the city has wasted millions of dollars not only on
collecting unnecessary “intelligence,” but in storing and maintaining files, and
sharing files containing defamatory and false information with other law
enforcement agencies. Even now, the city continues to engage in costly
litigation over these police abuses rather than take steps to correct the
problem.
As a first step toward such accountability, ANA is asking the city auditor, Don
Mares, to conduct an audit of the funds wasted on collecting “criminal
intelligence” files on people engaged in Constitutionally protected expressive
activities. ANA is also asking the Public Safety Review Commission (PSRC) to
conduct an investigation into and hold
public hearings on this violation of public trust and inappropriate use of
taxpayer dollars by the DPD. Expected to speak at the press conference are City
Auditor Don Mares, former PSRC Chairpersons Adrienne Benavides and Joseph
Sandoval, and former PSRC members Karen Nakandakare and Michael Hancock.
ANA is asking all prospective candidates for Mayor and City Council this May to
take a stand in support of
accountability on the spy files issue.
ACTIONS:
1)
[Contact information for the mayor and city auditor.
Please call them and
urge accountability.]
MAYOR
Wellington E. Webb
1437 Bannock Street
Suite 350
Denver, Colorado 80202
Phone: (720) 865-9000
Fax: (720) 865-8791
mayorden@ci.denver.co.us
AUDITOR
Donald J. Mares
110 16th Street
11th Floor
Denver, Colorado 80202
Phone: (720) 913-5010
Fax: (720) 913-5253
maresdj@ci.denver.co.us
2) Write Letters to the Editor to the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News in support of ANA's position and to continue their investigations of the Spy Files.
Denver Post : letters@denverpost.com, Phone: (303) 820-1331, Fax: (303) 820-1502
The Rocky Mountain News, letters@RockyMountainNews.com