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KEVIN GRAHAMA City Council member saw police interact at the park and will look into intimidation allegations.
TAMPA - Concerned about allegations of police intimidation at downtown Tampa's Riverfront Park, City Council member Kevin White decided to check things out for himself last Sunday.
Residents had complained at last week's City Council meeting that Tampa police officers walked around on a recent Sunday, writing parking tickets and displaying orange bean bag guns.
They said a police helicopter had circled the area.
All this, and there wasn't a single fight or example of inappropriate conduct on display, people said. They blamed the police for targeting Riverfront Park because it has become a popular gathering spot for black people on Sundays, with crowds of up to 3,000.
"If what the citizenry was saying at council was true ... I could not believe that the police department would be walking around with the bean bag shotguns," White, a former police officer, said Thursday. "I did not think that was true. Unfortunately, it was."
Tampa police Chief Stephen Hogue said the bean bag guns are standard equipment for officers' cars. On Sunday, no officers used them. But two weeks ago, about seven officers responded to a call for crowd control at the park and and prepared to use the weapons.
"Two weeks ago, they had their bean bag guns out and they had them out on the edge," Hogue said, adding that officers weren't walking around through the crowd as some park goers alleged.
The reason they pulled the guns out at all: "It was a little bit of a miscommunication," Hogue said.
"They had received a call from the parks department dispatched to them that the park was getting out of control," Hogue said. "I'm sure they pulled them out thinking there was a problem. When they found out there wasn't, they put them away."
Locals say visitors come from as far away as Orlando and Ocala to play basketball, barbecue and congregate at Riverfront Park on Sundays. Near Interstate 275 at N Boulevard and W Cypress Street, the park is easily accessible. And with the summer approaching, park goers expect more people, but don't want unnecessary police presence.
With a crowd so large, White said, having the police at the park is "mandatory." But those officers shouldn't use unnecessary tactics, he said.
White notified Hogue's office about his concerns, saying he planned to investigate the allegations of intimidation.
White said he talked to the chief about complaints about a police helicopter in the area, and Hogue said the pilots had been told not to fly near the area unless called for service.Connie Burton, 49, of Tampa, called on council members last week to "stand up and do the right thing ... come out there when the people are gathering and see what the people see."
Although White took her up on the offer, Burton said Thursday she's not sure how helpful the visit from White and Hogue will prove.
"African Americans have a right to utilize the park without intimidation," Burton said. "I guess we're in a wait and see mode."