During an interview on WNYC this morning, a caller asked Bill de Blasio why he supports the NYPD’s controversial surveillance tactics, which critics say unfairly target Muslims.
De Blasio corrected the caller by saying that the NYPD’s tactics, as initially reported, appeared to have been conducted legally, but that the latest revelations were unacceptable and in need of review.
“We have not been leveled with by the NYPD that, in fact, the kind of surveillance happening is much broader and not based on specific leads,” de Blasio told the caller. “And I have spoken out clearly and said we need to do a full review of all surveillance efforts, and anything that is not based on specific leads should not continue.”
He added that a new inspector general, which was established by the City Council last month over a mayoral veto, would help ensure complicance.
“I think that inspector general, in particular, will be crucial to make sure that no surveillance is undertaken in the future unless it is based on specific leads and constitutional standards.”
The Associated Press reported last week that the NYPD had secretly declared entire mosques as terrorist organizations, in order to step up its surveillance, and that the practice appears to be legal under the current guidelines governing the department.
In one particularly revealing example, which is detailed in a new bookby the two A.P. reporters who broke the mosque story, the NYPD wanted to open an investigation into a man named Dennis Christopher Burke, and that “the item that made police suspicious was merely a link to a Fox News article, a story that had been all over every news channel for hours. Yet it was enough for the NYPD.” (See page 143 of the book, titled Enemies Within.)
That request was approved, under what is known as the Handschu rules, named after the lead plaintiff in a landmark lawsuit against the NYPD, which currently serves as the legal basis for the department’s operations.
After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the head of the NYPD’s Intelligence Unit, David Cohen, a former C.I.A. official, sought an expansion of those rules from a federal judge. In a letter to the court, Cohen was clear in the need to get rid of the requirement for “specific information.”
“The determination of whether or not there is specific information suggesting criminal activity may be a difficult one,” he wrote. He added, “This criminal activity requirement as a threshold for investigative authority may effectively shield from discovery the lawful predatory activities which invariably precede terrorist attacks. In the case of terrorism, to wait for an indication of crime before investigating is to wait far too long.”
The changes Cohen sought were approved in 2002, and have been vigorously defended by police commissioner Ray Kelly.
De Blasio has promised to replace Kelly as commissioner if he’s elected mayor.