New Reform to Protect New York Muslims from Steady Surveillance

The Mayor of New York is set to appoint an independent representative to monitor discrimination against Muslims.

The New York Police Department will strengthen safeguards against illegal surveillance of Muslims in investigations of terror threats and install a civilian representative on an advisory committee that reviews the probes under the terms of a settlement of two high-profile civil rights lawsuits, lawyers said on Thursday.

The announcement of a deal following months of negotiations formally ended litigation over accusations that the nation’s largest police department cast a shadow over Muslim communities with a covert campaign of religious profiling and illegal spying.

We are committed to strengthening the relationship between our administration and communities of faith so that residents of every background feel respected and protected.

Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York

The settlement modifies and adds restrictions on surveillance set by the court-ordered Handschu decree, which was put in place in response to surveillance used against war protesters in the 1960s and ‘70s. The decree was relaxed following the 11 September 2001 terror attacks to allow police to more freely monitor political activity in public places.

At a time of rampant anti-Muslim hysteria and prejudice nationwide, this agreement with the country’s largest police force sends a forceful message that bias-based policing is unlawful, harmful and unnecessary.

Hina Shamsi, National Security Project Director, ACLU

The city had begun settlement talks last year, and a tentative deal in the Brooklyn case had been reached in June. Although it doesn’t require the NYPD to admit any wrongdoing or the city to pay monetary damages, the agreement “will curtail practices that wrongly stigmatise individuals” while making investigations “more effective by focusing on criminal behaviour,” said Arthur Eisenberg, legal director for the New York Civil Liberties Union.

What The Reform Entails

• Any and all violations must be reported to the police commissioner, who must then investigate and report back to the representative.
• Police may use undercover and confidential informants in a limited manner.
• Open-ended investigations will be given time limits to be closed.
• Status reviews to be conducted every six months.
• Police will need facts alleging possible criminal activity before opening an investigation.
• NYPD must remove a 2007 report from a dept. website, warning of a “radicalisation” process that puts young Middle Eastern immigrants on a path to commit acts of homegrown terrorism.
• Specifically ban investigations based on race, religion or ethnicity.
• Least intrusive investigative techniques possible.

Muslim groups had called the findings faulty and inflammatory. “This settlement is important in light of escalating anti-Muslim rhetoric and hate crimes in the US, but at the same time we hope Mayor de Blasio will be more vocal about why the department was simply wrong to engage in religious profiling of the Muslim community in the first place,” the Center for Constitutional Rights said in a statement.