The New York Police Department (NYPD) routinely monitored Muslims and extended investigations into political groups without permission, according to an Office of the Inspector General for the New York Police Department report released Tuesday.
Report authors who looked at sample cases between 2010 and 2015 found that of the cases involving “NYPD’s compliance with specific investigative rules,” 95 percent of them were investigations of individuals who were “associated with Muslims and/or engaged in political activity that those individuals associated with Islam.” The revelation came in a footnote section of the 64-page report, which also found that investigators repeatedly broke rules governing investigations and illegally extended the time it took to look into matters.
More than half the time, investigations continued even after the NYPD didn’t renew authorization, the report found. The use of human sources — such as confidential informants and undercover officers — continued for an average of a month after authorization expired. The NYPD also failed to describe the role of undercover officers or confidential informants. And while officials were sometimes able to explain why they needed to open new cases, the department repeatedly failed to “articulate the reasons why the investigation is continuing.”
Normally, in the case of NYPD investigations of political activity — which could include surveillance on a mosque, church, or synagogue — police must first articulate in writing the need for the investigation and get approval from senior officials. The permission only lasts for a certain period of time, at the end of which, they must apply for an extension or end the investigation.
NYPD investigations involving political activities must also adhere to the Handschu Guidelines, which regulate how and under what circumstances officers can begin an investigation. Those guidelines were aligned with the United States Department of Justice Guidelines issued after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.
In a press conference, police officials said that they were “pleased” with the report’s findings.
“We’re actually, as a department, very pleased with the inspector general’s report,” Lawrence Byrne, the department’s deputy commissioner for legal matters, said, according to the New York Times. Byrne further said that the report found “every one of our investigations, and every one of the people we investigated, were investigated for valid and proper purposes under the Handschu guidelines.”
In fact, the report found shortcomings with officers continuing investigations past when they were supposed to end and using thin reasons to open up new ones.
NYPD surveillance of Muslim communities isn’t new — the department secretly spied on Muslims for years following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. As ThinkProgress previously reported, “the NYPD’s massive infiltration failed to produce a single viable lead to stop terrorism. In fact, once the police were caught, news of the program backfired, reportedly destroying other law enforcement agencies’ carefully cultivated relationships with Muslim communities.”
In January, the American Civil Liberties Union announced a settlement — which has not yet been approved by a federal judge — to protect against “unjustified investigations of Muslim and other minority communities.” That settlement also imposed safeguards like constraining “intrusive investigatory practices,” limiting the use of undercover officers and informants, and calling for an outside civilian representative to ensure safeguard were being followed and enforced.