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Pat-Down Security Checks Resume For Bucs Games

Tribune photo by JOSEPH BROWN

The Tampa Sports Authority resumed pat-downs at today's game.

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By MIKE SALINERO | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 9, 2008

TAMPA - Fans with tickets to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers-Carolina Panthers game Sunday should come a little early because they will be given pat-down security searches before entering Raymond James Stadium.

The pat-downs will be the first at a Bucs home game since November 2005. They were stopped after a high school government teacher filed suit saying the searches violated his constitutional rights.

The Tampa Sports Authority, a public body that runs Raymond James Stadium, will deploy 175 people to conduct the searches. The workers will use the back of their hands to search people above the waist. Male and female workers will search only members of their own sex. Bags will also be searched, and fans will be asked to remove their hats.

The National Football League started requiring the pat-downs for all games in August 2005.

Teacher Gordon Johnston filed suit after the second game of the 2005 season. Johnston said the pat-downs violated the constitutional prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure.

The 13th Judicial Circuit Court in Tampa ordered an injunction stopping the searches Nov. 2, 2005. Two weeks ago, the U.S. District Court in Tampa lifted the injunction.

Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303

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