Interim chief says no written surveillance guidelines

Greensboro News Record
May. 30, 2006

GREENSBORO -- The American Civil Liberties Union wants to know how and why the Greensboro Police Department does surveillance of political groups. But, according to the department, there may be no clear answers.

Earlier this month the ACLU of North Carolina submitted a request for information on how the department collects intelligence on dissident groups, how groups are singled out for surveillance and what ultimately happens to the information collected.

The request, filed May 15, was made on behalf of The World Can't Wait NC -- a group whose members clashed with police during a downtown protest against President Bush in January. Seven protesters were arrested at the rally after they confronted plainclothes officers with the Criminal Intelligence Division who were photographing protesters and the license plates of cars. The protesters faced a variety of charges, including assaulting a public official, inciting a riot and carrying a concealed weapon. Members of The World Can't Wait said the rally was peaceful until they were provoked by police officers.

Interim police Chief Tim Bellamy said lawyers are reviewing the request.

As for surveillance guidelines, Bellamy said: "We don't have any written rules about surveillance. It's decided on a case-by-case basis. If we feel like there's a potential for danger or it's going to be a very large group, we'll have people out there."

The department monitors groups and individuals who aren't the targets of active criminal investigations if they believe the information could be useful later, Bellamy said. The department will share the information with other law enforcement organizations if asked, he said.

Members of The World Can't Wait, who said their group has been unfairly targeted, said that's not good enough.

"I'm not anti-police, and I appreciate them coming to demonstrations to make sure everything is safe," said Bruce Burch, a member of The World Can't Wait and one of the protesters named in the ACLU request. "But I think there's a difference between that and their being there for another purpose -- to do surveillance on people who are exercising their First Amendment rights."

Burch said the department should establish guidelines for surveillance to help avoid abuses of the tactic. With the ongoing national debate on domestic surveillance and recent state and federal investigations of the department, Burch said he wants to be sure any surveillance is based on a credible threat of danger -- not on ideology.

"I think the culture of domestic surveillance has trickled down to the local police level," Burch said. "With the trouble the Greensboro police have had going all the way back to 1979, I think there needs to be some system to make sure groups aren't being watched because of their politics."

In 1979 members of the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups clashed with protesters from the Communist Worker's Party, killing five protesters and wounding nine. The department has been criticized for not doing enough to prevent the shootings.

Jennifer Rudinger, executive director of the state ACLU, declined to talk about the specifics of the request. However, she said the Greensboro case seems to fit what her group has seen throughout the state.

"There does seem to be an increase in surveillance of peaceful demonstrations and meetings since 9/11," she said. "We're talking about peace groups, Green Party meetings, Quakers and groups like Food Not Bombs. What we're doing is just asking questions about which groups get this attention and why."