Pat Downs Nix-ed ...
Cincinnati Enquirer
Fans entering Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday will not be subject to hand searches, after another dust-up between the Cincinnati Bengals and Hamilton County officials.
Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said the activity - which was to be conducted by a private security firm but paid for with county money - amounted to illegal search and seizure.
"It could potentially be construed as state action because there is no reasonable cause," he said. "We had the duty to protect the county."
The Bengals, following a National Football League security mandate, announced the searches Wednesday. Deters said he got several calls from citizens who did not want to be patted down.
Deters, fearing the team planned to use Hamilton County Sheriff's deputies to do the searches, called to check. That's when he learned county employees wouldn't be doing the pat-downs, but taxpayers' dollars would be used to hire a private security firm instead.
It amounted to the same thing, Deters told the team.
Deters planned to ask a judge Friday to halt the pat-downs until the issue could be resolved, but before that could happen, Bengals attorneys agreed no searches would be done this week.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello says that, as far as he knows, Cincinnati will be the only team this weekend not following the new rule. The Bengals are one of 14 teams hosting a game this weekend.
Aiello said the league is aware the Bengals won't be conducting the searches before Sunday's game against Houston.
"In implementing the plan, teams were given flexibility to have it in this weekend," he said.
In statement released by the Bengals, executive Troy Blackburn said: "The Cincinnati Bengals will convene a meeting next week of NFL officials, local authorities and stadium management in an effort to find middle ground. The Cincinnati Bengals are committed to working with all parties to determine how best to comply with NFL mandates for a comprehensive stadium security plan."
The searches could resume as early as the next home game, on Oct. 23 against Pittsburgh. Deters said that's fine, as long as no county money is used to pay for them.
"A private entity can do whatever they want," Deters said. "Anybody who doesn't like it, doesn't have to buy a ticket."
Deters' sentiments were echoed by Hamilton County Commissioners Phil Heimlich and Todd Portune. Heimlich said the Bengals have sent a bill for the additional security totaling $60,000 to Hamilton County commissioners.
Heimlich said he doesn't expect the commissioners to pay for it, unless advised otherwise by the commissioners' attorney, which is Deters. It's a concern, Heimlich said, because paying for a search deemed illegal could subject the county to lawsuits.
'It's bad enough . . . '
"These are illegal searches, the last thing we intend to do is pay for them," Heimlich said. "It's bad enough they're trying to subject people to pat-downs. This adds insult to injury."
Portune called the Bengals' attempt to bill taxpayers for the security company's search of fans incredible.
"I have said no way, absolutely no way," Portune said. "We're not going to pay the cost of an illegal search and seizure."
Official law enforcement should be involved if there is a legitimate security issue at the county-owned Paul Brown Stadium, Portune said.
"If there was a security threat that necessitated a search of every person ... who entered that stadium, then I would expect to hear that from our public officials and that they would be the ones doing it," Portune said.
On Wednesday, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said the league's action was not the result of a specific threat, "but rather an effort to have the additional security for NFL fans at games that hand searches provide."
Several teams are already using the procedure, Tabliague said. The searches were also implemented for playoff games last season, and have been in effect for the Super Bowl since 2002.
This incident, Portune said, proves how bad the stadium's lease was for taxpayers and how good it was for the Bengals.
The lease gives the Bengals control of the stadium for its games.
"The way in which that facility is controlled, the way in which that lease is enforced (shows) people have lost sight of the fact that it is a public facility," Portune said.
"They (the Bengals) use it as if it is theirs."
Hamilton County is suing the Bengals in federal court, accusing the team and the NFL of using its monopoly power to force Hamilton County to sign a bad lease to keep the team in Cincinnati.
Fans unhappy
The pat-down issue already was contentious even before the legal challenge raised was made public Friday.
Fans such as Tino D. Thomas, 59, of Finneytown, were upset by the pat-down edict. Thomas has been a Bengals season-ticket holder since 1970.
Pat-down check points would have opened at 9 a.m. on the perimeter of the stadium - not at the stadium gates. Gates to enter the stadium open 90 minutes before kickoff, at about 11:30 a.m.
"This pat-down, while not the Bengals' fault, will create havoc," Thomas said.
The problem, he said, is parking-lot tailgaters who go into the stadium at the last possible minute before kickoff.
"Many of us tailgate, which is part of the fun and ambience of the day," Thomas said. "There is a mad rush around 12:40 (for a 1 p.m. kickoff) into the stadium."