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NYPD Dissolves Unit That Spied On Muslims
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Apr 15, 2014
Modified Apr 15, 2014
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Apr 15, 2014
Modified Apr 15, 2014
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The NYPD's Zone Assessment Unit is no more. According to Matt Apuzzo and Joe Goldstein, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has disbanded the task force that secretly catalogued the movements and activities of countless innocent citizens who practiced Islam in New York.
The Demographics Unit, as it was known before a series of AP articles exposed its activities, was vehemently defended by previous NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and Mayor Bloomberg, even though it never produced a single piece of actionable intelligence. Demographics officers would catalogue what was playing on TVs in Muslim-owned coffee shops or where Moroccans liked to get their hair cut, and they recruited people to spy on their Muslim friends and neighbors.
Current NYPD spokesman Stephen Davis told the Times that this sort of information may still be collected, but there wouldn't be a staff of officers working to collect it in secret:
“Understanding certain local demographics can be a useful factor when assessing the threat information that comes into New York City virtually on a daily basis,” Mr. Davis said. “In the future, we will gather that information, if necessary, through direct contact between the police precincts and the representatives of the communities they serve.”
Bratton reportedly met with Muslim community leaders last week to discuss the changes.
“This is the first time we’ve felt that comfort sitting with them,” said Ahmad Jaber, who resigned from the Police Department’s Muslim advisory board last year to protest the surveillance tactics. “It’s a new administration, and they are willing to sit with the community and listen to their concerns.”
Martin Stolar, a civil rights attorney who has worked on a police surveillance case for more than 40 years, said he's not entirely satisfied by the news:
“I want them to say that they’re getting rid of not just the unit, but the kind of policing that the unit did,” Mr. Stolar said. “Is it still going to be blanket surveillance of where Muslims hang out? Are they going to stop this massive surveillance?”
Mayor de Blasio released this statement:
Our administration has promised the people of New York a police force that keeps our city safe, but that is also respectful and fair. This reform is a critical step forward in easing tensions between the police and the communities they serve, so that our cops and our citizens can help one another go after the real bad guys.
You can read our lengthy interview with the two Pulitzer Prize winning AP reporters who uncovered the Demographics Unit here.
Tagged
Bill Bratton
islam
muslims
nypd
Ray Kelly
spying
war on terror
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
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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