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Letter to Tampa City Officials Questioning Police Use of Video Surveillance
During Super Bowl
February 1, 2001
Mayor Dick A. Greco
City Of Tampa
306 East Jackson St
Tampa, FL 33602
Fax: 813 - 274 - 7050
Commissioner Charlie Miranda
Chairman, Tampa City Council
315 East Kennedy Blvd
Tampa, FL 33602
Fax: 813 - 274 - 7076
Dear Mayor Greco and Commissioner Miranda;
We write with regard to reports that the Tampa Police Department employed a recently developed surveillance system to take pictures of all those entering Raymond James Stadium for Sunday's Super Bowl. The ACLU believes this activity raises serious concerns about the Fourth Amendment right of all citizens to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures.
Aside from the constitutional issues raised by the developing use of surveillance technology, we believe the public should be given an opportunity to ask -- and have answered -- the many questions raised by this practice. Policy makers must exercise control over the rapidly developing use of sophisticated surveillance systems before we become a society under constant surveillance.
We are therefore writing both to request that the Tampa City Council schedule public hearings on this matter and to request under Fla. Stat. Chapter 119 all documents regarding the collection, use and disposal of the images of Super Bowl patrons, the databases against which those images were checked, and the law enforcement agencies involved, including all memorandums, notes of meetings, reports, product evaluations, etc., pertaining to the City Council's review and approval of the video surveillance system.
Reports indicate that the Tampa police digitized the facial images and checked them electronically with databases maintained by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
Among the many things that are not clear about this program is whether the images were checked against those who have a record of a criminal conviction or databases that include records of those law enforcement agencies regard as criminal suspects. Reports of the use of this surveillance technology also indicate that the same technology has recently been installed for use in the Ybor City section of Tampa.
We fully understand that while everyone has a reduced expectation of privacy while in public, including sitting in the stands with one's family at a Sunday afternoon football game, we do not believe that the public understands or accepts that they will be subjected to a computerized police lineup as a condition of admission.
There are numerous questions for the City Council to answer -- and to inquire of the Police Department. For example, was the use of the digitalized-image surveillance system authorized for Sunday's Super Bowl game? Who authorized it? What database were the captured images checked against --- known felons, police suspects? What reports, if any, did the City Commission or Police Department review that evaluated the effectiveness of this surveillance system? Why did the City fail to notify patrons of Raymond James Stadium that the surveillance system would be in operation? What action was contemplated if the surveillance system produced a "hit"? That is, would suspects be ejected from the stadium, would they be followed or would they be arrested, and if arrested, on what basis?
Newspaper accounts of the Tampa Police Department's use of the surveillance system to capture the picture of every person entering the stadium suggests that the Department later disposed of the images. This raises additional questions regarding the Department's practice of video surveillance. For example, are the captured images public records under Florida's expansive public records act? If so, was the disposal of those records in accordance with State law? In other words, is the Tampa Police Department compelled to retain the images of some 100,000 individuals who committed no criminal act and make those images available for public inspection?
The people of the Tampa community, and indeed anyone who attended the Super Bowl or recently visited Ybor City deserve answers to these questions. We suspect that the members of the City Council want answers to these questions as well.
We thank you for your attention to these important matters.
Sincerely,
Howard L. Simon
ACLU of Florida
Executive Director
Michael E. Pheneger
Executive Board
Greater Tampa Chapter
CC: Henry Saavedra
Executive Director
Tampa Sports Authority
4201 North Dale Mabry
Tampa, FL 33607
Fax: (813) 673-4308
Tampa Police Department
Bennie R. Holder, Chief
One Police Center, 411 N. Franklin St.
Tampa, FL. 33602
Fax: (813) 276-3776
Jack Wilson
Chair of the Executive Committee
Super Bowl Taskforce
655 North Franklin Street, Suite 2200
Tampa, FL 33602
Fax (813) 281-5657
Reid Sigmon
Director of Operations
Super Bowl Task Force
633 North Frankin St, Suite 700
Tampa, FL 33602
Fax (813) 318-9502
Rick McKay
General Manager
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
One Buccaneer Place
Tampa, Florida 33607
Fax: (813) 870-1558
James D. Palermo
Tampa City Attorney
City Hall, 5th Floor
315 E. Kennedy Blvd.
Tampa, Florida 33602
Fax: (813) 274-8809
