Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Judge Says NYPD is Okay to Spy (For Now!)
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 14, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 14, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Yesterday, Federal Judge Charles Haight decided that the NYPD has the power to videotape political demonstrations, reversing a decision he made in February. His February ruling was held that the NYPD could not routinely videotape demonstrations, finding that the NYPD was overstepping its authority (Haight essentially said that just because it's a demonstration doesn't mean there's illegal activity going on to warrant surveillance). In another flashback, in 2003, Haight was asked to ease surveillance guidelines, it being post-September 11 and everything.
This time around, after a city lawyer suggested he "overstepped his judicial boundaries," Haight said that the city had provided evidence that, per the Times, "suggested that unlawful activity might indeed have been occurring, with protesters becoming unruly." From the NY Sun:
Asked by the city to reconsider that opinion, Judge Haight, decided yesterday that he lacked the authority to take action against the department for "isolated and aberrant photographing or videotaping " that did not comply with court-imposed guidelines.
Those guidelines, which are set out in a consent decree called Handschu, require that a crowd must grow unruly or a crime be about to occur before officers can videotape political demonstrations. Alternatively, police officers can get approval from the department's intelligence division to videotape political groups as part of criminal investigations.
But this is far from over: The plaintiffs will argue before Haight again, claiming that the NYPD has been violating consent decree.
Tagged
consent decree
court
crime
Judge Haight
News: NYC
ny sun
nypd
police
september 11
the city
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .