It was standing-room only at the Denver Police Department (DPD) on the evening of September 3, as hundreds of persons jammed the lobby on the first day that Denver began allowing individuals and organizations to obtain copies of the Spy Files that the DPD's Intelligence Unit had compiled on their political views and expressive activities. Police limited the initial disclosures to printouts from the Intelligence Bureau's computer database, which holds files on 3200 individuals and 208 groups. Denver officials had repeatedly insisted that this database held all of the controversial Spy Files, because the police supposedly had purged the older paper files when the DPD bought its expensive computer software in 1999.

On September 16, however, an embarrassed Chief of Police admitted that six file cabinets crammed with additional hard copy Spy Files had been "discovered" in a search for documents responsive to ACLU discovery requests filed in the pending federal court lawsuit over the Spy Files. The Chief pledged to conduct the same review of the paper files that produced the purge and disclosure of many of the computer files. He also relaxed the DPD's much-criticized procedures so that individuals may now request and receive copies of their Spy Files by mail, and he canceled the earlier cut-off date of November 1. To request your file, follow the link in the Spy Files section of the ACLU of Colorado web site, www.aclu-co.org.

The first wave of disclosures confirmed that Denver police frequently "monitor" peaceful rallies and demonstrations, record information about the views expressed, and take photographs and license plate numbers of participants, which in some cases requires following individuals to their cars. The officers then "run" the plates and include the resulting ID information in their reports. All of this is done with no conceivable connection to suspected criminal activity.

The disclosures confirm that Denver police have smeared the reputations of many peaceful and law-abiding organizations by labeling them falsely as "criminal extremist." In addition to the plaintiff organizations in the ACLU's lawsuit whose "criminal extremist" label was already known (including the American Friends Service Committee, which won the Nobel Peace Prize), the Denver police also branded as "criminal extremist" such groups as the American Indian Movement, Ancient Forest Rescue, the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, and Rocky Mountain Animal Defense.

Additional organizations are labeled with "civil disobedience" even though they do not advocate or participate in such activity. Examples include Amnesty International, Coloradans Against the Death Penalty, Justice for Mena Committee, Copwatch, and the Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace.

The Libertarian Party and the American Constitution Party are both falsely listed as "militia" groups. Other organizations apparently are not classified with labels, such as Operation Rescue, the Iliff School of Theology, and, according to a press report, the Million Mom March. Nor has the ACLU been neglected. The Spy Files include files on ACLU Legal Director Mark Silverstein and former ACLU Intake Director Simon Mole.

The police paid particular attention to Direct Action Network (DAN), which the Spy Files describe as an amalgam of protest groups banded together to ensure large numbers of protesters at local demonstrations. To combat this grave threat to Denver's peace and tranquillity, the Denver police "recovered" a roster listing several dozen of the group's members, each of whom became the subject of a file. A later-disclosed memo revealed an undercover police officer attended two meetings of DAN at the AFSC office in the spring of 2000. It reports in glowing terms the valuable intelligence information obtained from this undercover operation, including the fact that Global Exchange planned to provide a speaker in the next month, that Chiapas Coalition intended to conduct a rally at the Mexican consulate, and (gasp) that the Green Party intended to hold a convention in Denver the following month. After summarizing this intelligence coup, Detective Ayon proudly concluded: "The intelligence information developed in this short time will greatly enhance the mission of the Intelligence Section."

The files reveal a police mindset that confuses peaceful dissent with evidence of criminal activity. This confusion seems especially apparent when groups advocate greater police accountability. Particularly instructive is the file on Leroy Lemos, who coordinated the Justice for Mena Committee, which sought to hold Denver police accountable for killing Ismael Mena in a 1999 no-knock raid that targeted the wrong house.

Reporting on one of the group's peaceful rallies, the Spy Files refer to Lemos as "the suspect" and call him the group's "ringleader." Similarly, numerous additional narrative reports on peaceful protesters are titled "report on suspect." In reality, though, there is no criminal activity and no one who properly can be labeled a "suspect."

The ACLU's lawsuit, which asks the federal court to put a stop to these police practices that threaten to chill and to deter the exercise of First Amendment rights, is still in the discovery stage. To read more on the Spy Files, go to www.aclu-co.org. Individuals are encouraged to request their files from the DPD and send copies to the ACLU.

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