The investigations performed by this unit did considerable damage to the civil liberties of mosque attendees over the last decade, but failed to turn up any credible suspects, much less terrorism-related arrests. The unit's pervasive surveillance so thoroughly violated First and Fourth Amendment protections that the CIA and FBI were unable to avail themselves of the "intelligence" collected by the NYPD without violating federal guidelines. When even the CIA [ https://www.techdirt.com/search-g.php?q=cia+torture ] can't look at your investigative results for fear of violating its own minimal civil liberties protections, you know you've got a problem.
Bill Bratton, returning to the NYPD commissioner's office, seems to have realized that programs like the Demographics Unit ultimately do more harm than good. When heading the Los Angeles Police Department, he was approached with a similar idea for tracking that city's Muslim community. He had this to say then:
“A lot of these people came from countries where the police were the terrorists,” he said at the time. “We don’t do that here. We do not want to spread fear. We want to deal with criminals.”
The new NYPD is still staffed with the old NYPD, which means change will be slow and likely fought every step of the way. Muslims are understandably concerned that the public disbandment of the Demographics Unit will just result in the level of surveillance being unchanged, if only a bit more unfocused. Bratton seems to be nudging the department towards a more FBI-esque set of rules, which isn't ideal, but is certainly much better than the abusive behavior permitted under the NYPD's internal guidelines.
It does appear the NYPD will be moving towards something resembling an actual police force, rather than a law unto itself. Without Kelly and Bloomberg around to defend its every overstep, the NYPD can no longer expect to skirt the Constitution with impunity. But there's a long way to go to fix things, so any optimism must be tempered by the fact that good habits are tough to instill and bad habits are extremely hard to break. Five years of oversight is a start, but the city -- meaning the mayor and the police commissioner -- must be willing to hold its officers accountable.
NYPD Cops Can't Stop Getting Drunk And Shooting At People
Via lohud
by Christopher Mathias Posted: 05/01/2014 9:57 am EDT Updated: 05/02/2014 9:59 am EDT
The New York City Police Department has a problem: three officers in the span of a week have drunkenly fired their weapons at people, in one case striking a man six times as he sat in a car.
“These unfortunate incidents highlight the reality that lack of accountability at the NYPD has enabled a culture in which some officers believe they are above the law,” Priscilla Gonzalez of Communities United for Police Reform told The Huffington Post.
In the bloodiest incident, authorities say an off-duty cop shot a random motorist six times on Tuesday in Westchester County after drinking at a bar with colleagues.
The victim, 47-year-old Joe Felice, was sitting in the passenger seat of his friend's car when he heard the gunshots. Upon realizing he'd been shot, he slid down in his seat, where he was struck five more times. Another bullet hit the headrest where his head had been moments before.
His friend then drove Felice to Montefiore Medical Center in The Bronx, where he was treated for six gunshot wounds in his torso, arms, and lungs. Felice is in stable condition.
Cronin drove away from the shooting. A short time later, motorists called 911 to report a car driving erratically with its hazard lights on. When cops chased down and stopped the vehicle, Cronin was inside. He brandished his gun out the window before officers eventually got him to toss the weapon to the ground.
Cronin pleaded not guilty on Wednesday and is being held on $250,000 bond. According to the Post, Cronin, who refused a Breathalyzer test, doesn't remember firing his weapon, and Bratton said he is believed to have been drunk.
The three booze-fueled shootings prompted NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton to announce in a statement that he is "personally... very disturbed about a number of incidents in recent weeks that are part of a long-term problem of inappropriate use of alcohol by members of the department.”
Gonzalez said the department has some work to do.
“The long-term task of establishing meaningful accountability for the police department is essential to repairing the relationship between communities and the NYPD," she said.
The annual charity hockey game between the FDNY and NYPD devolved into a full-out brawl at Nassau Coliseum with the score tied at three. Cops and firefighters were beating the crap out of each other.
Is Stop-and-Frisk Worth It? Joshua Rodriguez (left), a junior, and Kiairus Diamond (right), a sophomore, stand in a hallway at the Malcolm X Shabazz High School. Both say they have been stopped and frisked repeatedly in recent months by the Newark police: Joshua 12 times, and Kiairus three times. A subject is frisked in Newark, New Jersey. No illegal materials are found. Civil-rights activists are ecstatic that a federal judge declared the NYPD’s policy unconstitutional. But law-enforcement officials say the practice has made U.S. cities dramatically safer. Now what? March 19, 2014 http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/03/is-stop-and-frisk-worth-it/358644/ [with comments]
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
