Former Colorado Supreme Court Justice Jean Dubofsky, appointed to the mayoral panel reviewing police policy, said she was optimistic that nonviolent activists named in the files soon will have access to their information.

Chief Gerry Whitman said the department probably will give access to the so-called "spy files" that were improperly created. Whitman and Mayor Wellington Webb have said some of the 3,400 files were created without cause.

"I think we'll allow them to see what's purged, if it shouldn't have been in there," Whitman said.

The panel of judges will meet with police union representatives this morning and could make recommendations to the mayor in a month on revisions to the policy governing intelligence gathering.

A proposed revision to the policy would require a yearly audit of the files, training for officers, a supervisor to sign off on information and temporary files to be purged after one year.

"I've received a lot of input from the part of the community that's not as vocal," Whitman said. "I think people understand we need to collect criminal intelligence information."

Current policy allows police to maintain intelligence files on groups and people involved in violent crime or property destruction. But they also have been maintaining documents on peaceful protesters.

Certain conditions would apply to any public review of the files.

"Terrorists couldn't go in and review their files," Dubofsky said.

Until now, the "spy files" have been virtually off-limits to the public except in a few court cases. Only three have been made public, and those were released in March by the American Civil Liberties Union, not the city.

The files and a proposed change in police policy came under heavy fire in a three-hour public hearing before the review panel Tuesday. Activists from the left and right of the political spectrum blasted the revised policy and called for police to be punished for past missteps.

"The Denver Police Department has shown in its violation of existing policy that it cannot be trusted to police itself," said Barbara Cohen of End the Politics of Cruelty.

Rick Stanley, a Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate who goes to trial today on charges of possessing a gun during a Second Amendment rally in Civic Center, said: "This policy is garbage, and they know it's garbage. It's a big subterfuge to get people in Denver to think things will change."

Former Civil Service Commissioner Adrienne Benavidez, who is running for state representative, criticized the revised policy as vague.

"These (rules) are so discretionary. They leave too much room for the individual officers," she said.