With CIA help, NYPD moves covertly in Muslim areas Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the New York Police Department has become one of the nation's most aggressive domestic intelligence agencies, targeting ethnic communities in ways that would run afoul of civil liberties rules if practiced by the federal government, an Associated Press investigation has found. These operations have benefited from unprecedented help from the CIA, a partnership that has blurred the line between foreign and domestic spying. The department has dispatched undercover officers, known as "rakers," into minority neighborhoods as part of a human mapping program, according to officials directly involved in the program. They've monitored daily life in bookstores, bars, cafes and nightclubs. Police have also used informants, known as "mosque crawlers," to monitor sermons, even when there's no evidence of wrongdoing. Neither the city council, which finances the department, nor the federal government, which has given NYPD more than $1.6 billion since 9/11, is told exactly what's going on. Many of these operations were built with help from the CIA, which is prohibited from spying on Americans but was instrumental in transforming the NYPD's intelligence unit. A veteran CIA officer, while still on the agency's payroll, was the architect of the NYPD's intelligence programs. The CIA trained a police detective at the Farm, the agency's spy school in Virginia, then returned him to New York, where he put his new espionage skills to work inside the United States. And just last month, the CIA sent a senior officer to work as a clandestine operative inside police headquarters. In response to the story, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a leading Muslim civil rights organization, called on the Justice Department to investigate. The Justice Department had no immediate comment. "This is potentially illegal what they're doing," said Gadeir Abbas, a staff attorney with the organization. The NYPD denied that it trolls ethnic neighborhoods and said it only follows leads. Police operations have disrupted terrorist plots and put several would-be killers in prison. "The New York Police Department is doing everything it can to make sure there's not another 9/11 here and that more innocent New Yorkers are not killed by terrorists," NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said. "And we have nothing to apologize for in that regard." AP's investigation is based on documents and interviews with more than 40 current and former New York Police Department and federal officials. Many were directly involved in planning and carrying out these secret operations for the department. Though most said the tactics were appropriate and made the city safer, many insisted on anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak with reporters about security matters. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap...WhDPTg?docId=68e74ec21cb6481ebff3a063dc4ca2ba Thank God, they are monitoring Muslims in NYC. How many terror cells have they broken up now? Are progressives freaking suicidal? _
impossible....we have been told by RW blogs that they are only going after christian terrorists. obviously AP isnt as credible as WND....what do they say?
WTF??? The CIA has no authority to operate inside the borders of America. Thats what the FBI is for....
I think they have broken many more than we even hear about. I have a good friend (AKA a reliable source) on the Counter Terrorism unit of the NYPD, they have been very busy. Indeed... what a bunch of hypocrites. That is why they are working with the NYPD. It makes sense considering that many of these cells operate outside of the United States as well.
