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Why Would The Head Of The NYPD's Intelligence Unit Police A Small Protest?
By
Christopher Robbins
Published May 2, 2013
Modified May 2, 2013
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Gothamist
By
Christopher Robbins
Published May 2, 2013
Modified May 2, 2013
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The NYPD's Intelligence Division, whose Muslim surveillance program was recently profiled in a series of explosive AP reports, had a budget of around $63 million [PDF] last year. According to the department's recruitment website, the nearly 800 officers working for Intelligence hold advanced graduate degrees in law, physics, and international affairs. The division oversees an array of undercover officers who speak a variety of languages and, to use the mayor's words, "keep this country safe." Its head of day-to-day operations is Assistant Chief Thomas Galati, who was promoted to the post in 2008, and coordinates the NYPD's investigations with the FBI, DHS, and other federal agencies. So why would Chief Galati police a 90-minute march of 100 protesters as it wound around the East Village yesterday?
As we have previously noted, the NYPD's leadership seems particularly inclined to mix things up with protesters. Former Chief of Department Joseph Esposito, the NYPD's second in command, was seen forcefully shoving Occupy Wall Street protesters with his baton. The officer who precipitated the four violent arrests during yesterday's anti-capitalism march was the commanding officer of the 9th Precinct, Deputy Inspector John Cappelmann.
Though he was never far from the scrum, we didn't witness Chief Galati make any arrests. Galati, who in 1989 was awarded the department's third-highest honor, the Medal of Valor, would have been invisible amongst the heavy NYPD presence if it weren't for the two stars on his collar designating his rank. In 2011 Galati received an award from the Anti-Defamation League "in recognition of his courage and dedication to the safety and security of one of the nation's largest metropolitan populations."
Last summer, Chief Galati testified that the Intelligence Division's Demographics Unit, which spied on Muslim communities across the eastern seaboard, had generated zero leads. "I never made a lead from rhetoric that came from a Demographics report, and I'm here since 2006," Galati said.
A report co-authored by a clinical arm of the CUNY School of Law later showed that the program, which began in 2002, "creates a pervasive climate of fear and suspicion that encroaches upon every aspect of [Muslim community members'] religious, political, and community lives."
The NYPD's top press spokesman, Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne, declined to confirm whether Galati policed the march.
Tagged
May Day
occupy wall street
thomas galati
original
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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