NYPD

NYPD says it is legal to conduct surveillance on Muslims in city and in Newark

The NYPD made no apologies Thursday as it defended itself against accusations that it violated the law with an extensive post-9/11 campaign of spying on the city’s Muslims.

At an unusual press briefing, chief spokesman Paul Browne said the NYPD operates under the tightest civil liberties regulations of any police department in the land.

“There's been a suggestion that what we are doing doesn't comport with legal requirements, and that's not the case,” Browne said.

“Everything we're doing is done constitutionally.”

Amid a new furor over the surveillance of mosques and schools in Newark,

lawyers from the NYPD and the city met with reporters to explain the complex guidelines under which they conduct investigations related to political activity and terrorism.

“There is no constitutional prohibition against a police department collecting information,” said Peter Farrell, senior counsel of the city’s Law Department.

“What's unconstitutional is if they then use that information to chill someone’s First Amendments rights or to impose harm on them.”

Browne said that because of the Handschu agreement, a 1985 consent decree that restricts how the NYPD can monitor political groups, “in fact, we meet higher requirements here in New York.”

The meeting at police HQ was prompted by an ongoing series of investigative reports by the Associated Press detailing how the NYPD spied on the city’s Muslims in mosques, cafes, shops and schools, looking for indications of terrorism.

The most recent revelations - that the monitoring spread to Newark - prompted Newark Mayor Cory Booker and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to order investigations on Wednesday.

A Newark Star-Ledger editorial called it “an insidious betrayal” by the NYPD.

On Thursday, Browne said Newark police officials were notified that the NYPD was monitoring activities of Muslims in Newark.

“Newark police officials were aware and were briefed before and afterwards, and a Newark police liaison accompanied NYPD personnel,” Browne insisted.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Legal Matters Andrew Schaffer said New York cops could legally work outside the city if they don’t exercise police powers.

“There’s no prohibition on traveling to, residing in, or investigating within the United States,” he said.

Asked if the NYPD was losing the public relations war, Browne said criticism was part of the territory.

"We arrest people, we give out summons, we tell people they can't walk down the street - everything the police engage in, to a certain degree, is less popular than what organizations do,” he said.

“Opening swimming pools in the summer is a lot more popular than telling you you can't park here. That goes from everything from making arrests to terrorism investigations. And we understand that. But we also have an obligation to protect the city - and we're doing it lawfully.”

Under the Handschu rules, the NYPD can only monitor political activity if there is a suspicion of criminality, and then only with a warrant. The rules were imposed after a court found the NYPD violated the Constitution in the 1960s and 1970s by spying on Black Panthers, gay groups and anti-war activists.

The court loosened the rules in 2003.

The AP series - which found whole neighborhoods were subjected to surveillance after 9/11, not because of wrongdoing but because of the religion of their residents - won a prestigious Polk Award Monday.

The series revived the debate over the delicate balance between security and personal liberty, and renewed questions about how far the cops should reach to protect the city.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-perfectly-legal-spy-muslims-city-newark-article-1.1027750#ixzz1nOTEB04B