New York Police Department

About | Subscribe | RSS

TPMMuckraker
New York Police Department

Did the NYPD's Spying on Muslims Violate the Law?

February 29, 2012, 4:23PM

by Justin Elliott ProPublica

Last August, the Associated Press launched a series detailing how the New York Police Department has extensively investigated Muslims in New York and other states, including preparing reports on mosques and Muslim-owned businesses, apparently without any suspicion of crimes being committed.

The propriety and legality of the NYPD's activities is under dispute. Mayor Michael Bloomberg - who claimed last year that the NYPD does not focus on religion and only follows threats or leads - is now arguing that, as he said last week, "Everything the NYPD has done is legal, it is appropriate, it is constitutional." Others disagree. In fact, Bloomberg himself signed a law in 2004 prohibiting profiling by law enforcement based on religion.

This week, Attorney General Eric Holder told a congressional committee the Justice Department is reviewing whether to investigate potential civil rights violations by the NYPD.

To get a better understanding of the rules governing the NYPD - and whether the department has followed them in its surveillance of Muslims - we spoke to Faiza Patel, co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center at NYU Law School.

The NYPD did not respond to our request for comment about allegations it has violated the law.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: CIA, Muslims, New York Police Department

New York City

Lieberman Wants Google To Let Users Flag 'Terrorist Content' On Blogging Platform

Ryan J. Reilly | November 22, 2011, 3:08PM

Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT)

When he wasn't smoking pot with the New York Police Department's confidential informant or trying to manually cut off the tip of his penis, "lone wolf" terror suspect Jose Pimentel was running a jihadist website on Google's Blogger platform.

Now Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) wants Google to implement a policy explicitly banning terrorist material on their Blogger servers and set up a YouTube-style "flag" system to bring such material to Google's attention.

TPM obtained a letter sent by Lieberman, chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, to Google CEO Larry Page on Tuesday calling for him to make some changes to their policy.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: Counterterrorism, Domestic Terrorist, FBI, Google, Joe Lieberman, Jose Pimentel, NYPD, New York City, New York Police Department

Jose Pimentel

'Lone Wolf' Terror Suspect Pimentel Got High With NYPD Informant, Tried To Circumcise Himself

Ryan J. Reilly | November 21, 2011, 11:07PM

Jose Pimentel, the "lone wolf" arrested in the terror sting run by the New York Police Department, smoked marijuana with the NYPD's cooperating informant in the case, an official familiar with the sting tells TPM.

An official with the local prosecutor's office said they were personally unaware of the marijuana detail on Monday afternoon. The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment. The marijuana detail was also reported by the New York Times on Monday night.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: FBI, Jose Pimentel, NYPD, New York Police Department

FBI

FBI Was Concerned NYPD's 'Lone Wolf' Case Raised Issues Of Entrapment

Ryan J. Reilly | November 21, 2011, 3:35PM

Jose Pimentel wasn't exactly hiding.

The 27-year-old accused of plotting to attack New York with pipe bombs was operating a website that espoused his beliefs in committing terror against the U.S. and was relatively well known in law enforcement circles.

Federal authorities passed on the case -- with one source telling TPM on Sunday night that the FBI passed several times, and an official telling the Associated Press on Monday that Pimentel "didn't have the predisposition or the ability to do anything on his own." That's leaving observers wondering what exactly the feds didn't like about the case and setting up another squabble in the long-running turf war between the New York Police Department and the FBI.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: Counterterrorism, DOJ, FBI, Jose Pimentel, Justice Department, NYPD, New York Police Department

Jose Pimentel

Feds Passed On NYC 'Lone-Wolf' Terror Case

Ryan J. Reilly | November 21, 2011, 9:37AM

Updated: 11:43AM

Federal authorities take terrorism cases pretty seriously, even when those plots are pretty far fetched. So when the FBI declines to take a case handed to them on a platter by local authorities -- on multiple occasions -- it suggests something isn't quite right.

Sources familiar with the case against Jose Pimentel -- accused of planning an attack with pipe bombs -- told TPM Sunday night that federal law enforcement declined several times to take the case out of local authorities' hands. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal also report that the FBI passed because of issues with the case, setting up the rare occurrence of a local district attorney handling a terrorism prosecution case.

At a press conference at City Hall on Sunday night -- featuring a video of police blowing up a car to show television viewers what could have happened -- NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly suggested that the Justice Department was aware of the case. Despite the fact that his investigators had been on Pimentel for two years, he said they had to act without the feds because the case, involving a bomb constructed out of a clock, elbow piping and Christmas lights game provided by the NYPD's source, came together quickly at the end.

PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)
Topics: FBI, Jose Pimentel, New York City, New York Police Department

Department of Justice

Former DHS Official Calls For DOJ To Probe NYPD Spying Program

Ryan J. Reilly | October 20, 2011, 12:00PM

A former official with the Department of Homeland Security wants the Justice Department to probe the New York Police Department for their infiltration and surveillance of Muslim communities.

Sahar F. Aziz, Associate Professor of Law and Texas Wesleyan School of Law, encouraged the Justice Department to open an investigation into the NYPD during a DOJ-sponsored conference on post-Sept. 11 discrimination on Wednesday.