Bengals Put Down The Pat-Downs Amid Pressure From County

Bengals Cancel Pat-Down Plans Amid Pressure From County Commissioners

The Bengals canceled plans to pat down fans at yesterday’s game against the Texans at Paul Brown Stadium amid pressure from Hamilton County (OH) officials after the team hired a private security company to conduct the NFL-mandated pat-downs and county officials became “worried that a fan could sue,” according to the CINCINNATI POST. The county filed for a temporary restraining order and the team said that it “would try to work out a compromise before the next home game” on October 23. The Bengals had hired Contemporary Services Corp. to handle the pat-downs, the same company that handles Super Bowl security (CINCINNATI POST, 10/1). In Cincinnati, Coolidge, Curnutte & Perry noted that the company was to be paid with county money, and Hamilton County Commissioner Phil Heimlich said, “These are illegal searches, the last thing we intend to do is pay for them.” Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said that the searches may resume “as long as no county money is used to pay for them” (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 10/1).

SLOW GOING: In Atlanta, Steve Wyche writes there were “several thousand empty seats well into the first quarter,” at yesterday’s Vikings-Falcons game at the Georgia Dome, “in part because of long lines entering the stadium” due to pat-downs and random searches (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 10/3).