NY Police to Stop Spying on Muslims

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The New York police unit in charge of collecting intelligence among local Muslims was shut down.

The New York Police Department shut down a special unit operating since 9/11. The unit conducted undercover intelligence gathering operations in local Muslim communities using plainclothesmen.

According to a New York Times report this recently canceled secret program was aimed at placing detectives in Muslim neighborhoods, eavesdropping on conversations and collecting detailed intelligence on local Muslim customs: Social activities, restaurants, prayer, shopping and more.

This decision reflects the changes in the NYPD since the appointment of its new commander, William Bratton. Bratton decided to cancel some of the intelligence gathering programs established since 9/11, programs slammed by civil rights groups and senior FBI officials, who believe that they damaged national security by revealing the law enforcement agencies’ lack of trust in the Muslim community.

The unit carrying out these covert operations was known as the “Demographic Unit.” Its detectives used to map Muslim communities, locate places frequented by “wearers of Muslim clothes” and record conversations. Linda Sarsour from the New York Arab-American Association said that the demographic unit was a form of psychological warfare conducted against Muslims. “In their documents they note exactly where I live, which restaurants I like and my places of prayer.”

Linda Sarsour met NYPD Commander Bratton and his senior officers recently, including the NYPD’s new intelligence officer John Miller, who told her that the police doesn’t need covert operations to locate places used for prayer and social gathering. Miller announced that the demographic unit will be shut down and all unit detectives reassigned.

iHLS – Israel Homeland Security

NYPD Spokesperson, Stephen Davis, said that collecting information on suspects might be helpful when there are potential terrorist threats, but “in the future this sort of information will be collected through direct contact between police stations and community representatives.” The idea behind the establishment of the unit was to locate places where terrorists might choose to stay and hide among the locals.

The detectives used to monitor and report on these social hubs, hoping to get an early warning involving terrorist plots. The detectives were ordered to start conversations with Muslims and listen to their opinions on the U.S. government and its actions. They collected information, for example, on a location where Albanian Muslims used to meet and play chess in the afternoon, a location used by Egyptian Muslims to play soccer and a location used by Asian Muslims to play games of cricket. Even after all that, though, they haven’t managed to uncover any terrorist plots.

The police also planted operatives in Muslim student organizations in colleges and universities, collecting names, phone numbers and addresses of students who took part in rallies. Analysts monitored internet websites blonging to Muslim groups, including university professors.

The police used to define a certain Mosque as an area hosting suspected terrorist activities. Cops could then write down license plate numbers of visitors and send in agents to secretly record prayers and sermons.

It seems that from now on the NYPD will use methods similar to those of the FBI. The law prevents the FBI from using wire taps of any kind, and the two agencies will from now on keep track of ethnic minorities using blicly available materials and federal government databases.

Source: Homeland Security Today