NFL wheelchair cushion searches upset crips
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
TAMPA, FLORIDA--About 60 Tampa Bay Buccaneer fans received letters from the Tampa Sports Authority explaining that their wheelchair seat cushions would be inspected for safety reasons, and asking them to provide updated personal information -- including a list of medical needs from their doctors.
According to the Tampa Tribune, the National Football League's new security requirements call for pat-down searches of all fans, including wheelchair users.
The Council for Disability Rights said it opposes the cushion inspection because it represents a higher level of security than what fans who do not use wheelchairs face at the turnstiles.
"They're victimizing a whole group of people," said executive director Jo Holzer. "That cushion is part of the wheelchair."
Authority officials said they want to work with fans.
"We're bending over backwards to accommodate them," said Mickey Farrell, the stadium's operations director, who mentioned that officials could bring in drug-sniffing dogs as one alternative. "There's nothing sinister."
Related:
"Wheelchair Search Upsets Mom" (Tampa Tribune)
October 25, 2005 - News Department | Email this story
Comments (newest comments at bottom)
Okay, pat-down searches of everybody is one thing, but providing a "list of medical needs from their doctors"? How painful it must be to "bend over backwards to accommodate them"! Wouldn't it be easier to just let folks in? There certainly is something sinister.
Posted by: Evonne on November 4, 2005 01:48 PM