With CIA Help, NYPD Moves Covertly in Muslim Areas

With CIA Help, NYPD Moves Covertly in Muslim Areas

abcnews.go.com

In New Brunswick, N.J., a building superintendent opened the door to apartment No. 1076 one balmy Tuesday and discovered an alarming scene: terrorist literature strewn about the table and computer and surveillance equipment set up in the next room.

The panicked superintendent dialed 911, sending police and the FBI rushing to the building near Rutgers University on the afternoon of June 2, 2009. What they found in that first-floor apartment, however, was not a terrorist hideout but a command center set up by a secret team of New York Police Department intelligence officers.

(visit the link for the full news article)

I had no idea that the CIA was in the business of providing support to US police intelligence operations or that the NYPD was alloyed to operate on New Jersey. I guess you learn something new every day on these interwebs. This article is pretty long for an AP piece but well worth your 15 minutes or so to read through it. Just makes me wonder what is going on that you and I know nothing about.


abcnews.go.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

It gets worse:

At the CIA, one of the biggest obstacles has always been that U.S. intelligence officials are overwhelmingly white, their mannerisms clearly American. The NYPD didn't have that problem, thanks to its diverse pool of officers.

Using census data, the department matched undercover officers to ethnic communities and instructed them to blend in, the officials said. Pakistani-American officers infiltrated Pakistani neighborhoods, Palestinians focused on Palestinian neighborhoods. They hung out in hookah bars and cafes, quietly observing the community around them.

Cohen said he wanted the squad to "rake the coals, looking for hot spots," former officials recalled. The undercover officers soon became known inside the department as rakers.

A hot spot might be a beauty supply store selling chemicals used for making bombs. Or it might be a hawala, a broker that transfers money around the world with little documentation. Undercover officers might visit an Internet cafe and look at the browsing history on a computer, a former police official involved in the program said. If it revealed visits to radical websites, the cafe might be deemed a hot spot.

Ethnic bookstores, too, were on the list. If a raker noticed a customer looking at radical literature, he might chat up the store owner and see what he could learn. The bookstore, or even the customer, might get further scrutiny. If a restaurant patron applauds a news report about the death of U.S. troops, the patron or the restaurant could be labeled a hot spot.

SOURCE< br />
If you think they only do this with "terrorism" then you are sadly mistaken. How much you want to bet that an internet browser with ATS in it's history would be considered a "hot spot" as well

reply to post by ProphecyPhD


It is pretty scarey to me that the new normal now is our CIA working with City police departments in the United States. That used to be something that would get a lot of people in trouble since the CIA was primarily tasked with foreign intelligence and not allowed to operate on US soil. That is out the window I guess along with the right to a Writ of Habeas Corpus.

reply to post by wayouttheredude


A "top guy" in the CIA quit the CIA to become an aide to a "top guy" in the NYPD so he could use his CIA training, intelligence and connections in the NYPD without being on the CIA payroll (which he probably still is anyway). Criminals find loopholes in everything, go figure.

Check this out

whattheinternetknowsaboutyou.com...

reply to post by roughycannon


I am failing to see what this random site has to do with the thread topic. Perhaps you can provide more background then check this out.

reply to post by wayouttheredude


As soon as I saw this on the news I though to myself, "man, this is going to be all over ATS."

Unfortunately, a misunderstanding of the subject is creating an unneccesary fear of the subject. I am not saying the suspicion is not warranted. It is a touchy subject when we start talking about a local police department engaging in intelligence gathering on the population and using the CIA's tips and tricks to do it.

Truth is, most major metropolitan police departments have a Criminal Intelligence Section. These intelligence units gather intelligence on street gangs, outlaw biker gangs, crime organizations, cults, foreign terrorists, domestic terrorists or radical political groups and their members. These Criminal Intelligence Sections develop informants, track membership, develop their intentions and possibly their targets. They gather valuable data that assists in the tracking and prosecution of these groups and their members.

What they do not do is spy on the public at large or groups that are not directly related to criminal activity. Their charters are directly influenced by state and federal law that explicitly limits what sort of data they can and can not maintain. One example is 28 CFR Part 23.

(b) A project shall not collect or maintain criminal intelligence information about the political, religious or social views, associations, or activities of any individual or any group, association, corporation, business, partnership, or other organization unless such information directly relates to criminal conduct or activity and there is reasonable suspicion that the subject of the information is or may be involved in criminal conduct or activity.

After reading the above snippet from the document, one can draw the conclusion that gathering intelligence data on groups that do not have anything to do with criminal activity is forbidden.

I had no idea that the CIA was in the business of providing support to US police intelligence operations or that the NYPD was alloyed to operate on New Jersey.

The CIA is simply providing training and support but are not directly involved in intelligence gathering on American Citizens.

The NYPD officers that were deployed to New Jersey may be part of some sort of task force giving them jurisdiction in New Jersey. I am sure there are many task forces that include officers from New York and New Jersey and those officers are granted jurisdiction in both states. Or, the officers could simply be gathering intelligence and not working in a "law enforcement" capacity in another state.

That used to be something that would get a lot of people in trouble since the CIA was primarily tasked with foreign intelligence and not allowed to operate on US soil.

The CIA still can not operate on US soil officially. The CIA is very good at gathering and disseminating intelligence. They are simply providing Criminal Intelligence Sections with training to assist them.

There should be a division in every police department doing this..
It would keep the country safer.

reply to post by areyouserious2010


Call me a paranoid and I will call you "very trusting". I am a bit of a spy history buff so I am not very trusting of any of these agencies when they are working on US soil for what ever stated reason. My first exposure as a kid was reading about Project Shamrock by the NSA. I thought that when people have shadow of official secrecy they are going to tend to hide all kinds of evils in that shadow.

reply to post by wayouttheredude

Call me a paranoid and I will call you "very trusting".

I never called you paranoid. And I never said anything that would lead one to believe I am very trusting. In fact, I stated that your suspicion is warranted but any fear is from a misunderstanding of the subject.

I believe these units should have a proper amount of oversight so it is ensured they do not over step their bounds but the job they do is essential in this day and age.

I am a bit of a spy history buff so I am not very trusting of any of these agencies when they are working on US soil for what ever stated reason. My first exposure as a kid was reading about Project Shamrock by the NSA. I thought that when people have shadow of official secrecy they are going to tend to hide all kinds of evils in that shadow.

I am merely providing some perspective on how police departments and their Criminal Intelligence Sections work and the laws that dictate what they can and can not do.

They are not just clandestine police units that gather any and all intelligence on every citizen they can including citizens who are not engaging in any criminal activity whatsoever.

The CIA, NSA and police department's Criminal Intelligence Sections are completely different agencies with different laws and policies governing their actions.

The only thing the CIA and a police department's Criminal Intelligence Section has in common is that they gather intelligence and disseminate it to the proper recipient for possible action. Because they share this common element, the CIA, with its vast amount of experience, can teach police officers the basics of intelligence gathering so that they may apply it to law enforcement.

reply to post by ProphecyPhD


I do not see what the issue is.

So the police hang out in potential places that could be used by criminals? In an attempt to identify those criminals so that they can gather information on them? That sounds like a sound tactic. The only way you are going to find something is if you look in the right place.

It is not like the police are walking around in plain clothes, hanging out in public places and listening for people to speak out against the government or a certain political party so they can be arrested and whisked away to Guantanamo Bay without trial.

I am still not seeing the issue you have with this.

i move covertly in judeo-christian areas.

oh wait, thats like 95+% of USA.

Didn't the Nazis do this kind of stuff 75 years ago, only it was to Jewish communities? Are we at risk of repeating history?

Originally posted by m1991
Didn't the Nazis do this kind of stuff 75 years ago, only it was to Jewish communities?

Dunno - did they? Is there some link to them doing so?

they certainly had lot of "normal" Germans spying for them, as I understand it, but that's not quite the same thing you're thinking of is it?

Are we at risk of repeating history?

Only if you consideer having a police force that has an ative criminal investigative branch this year a repeat of them having dome some 10 years ago, or whatever.

As someone else said above - police SHOULD be doing covert surveillance as part of their criminal investigative activities - you'd be screaming about them not doing their jobs if they didn't!!

reply to post by m1991

Didn't the Nazis do this kind of stuff 75 years ago, only it was to Jewish communities?

Yes, but the difference is the Nazis used the Gestapo against political dissenters, certain religious groups and any other groups or people deemed unacceptable by the regime that did not have any connection to criminal activity.

The Criminal Intelligence Sections used by police departments today are governed by state and federal laws that ensure they only gather intelligence on people or groups that are directly related to criminal activity.

Are we at risk of repeating history?

We are always at risk of repeating history. The state and federal laws and policies that govern these Criminal Intelligence Sections of police departments shows that we the American People are not willing and do not want to repeat history.

The starways to hell are pathed with small steps.

Originally posted by JennaDarling


The starways to hell are pathed with small steps.

The path to hell is paved with good intentions.

Originally posted by 547000

Originally posted by JennaDarling


The starways to hell are pathed with small steps.

The path to hell is paved with good intentions.

That too, regardless, it still leads to hell.