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Blog — NYPD
Thursday February 28, 2013
Yesterday, Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) circulated a letter to her colleagues announcing her intention to introduce the “Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Terrorism Act of 2013,” a bill that will require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop training programs on counterterrorism and violent extremism in the US that are “consistent with our constitutional rights.” Read More »
Posted by Yasmine Taeb at 5:10 pm / / Leave a comment
Monday January 07, 2013
Today’s big news in Washington is the announcement of President Obama’s nominations for two key foreign policy posts: former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel has been tapped to be the next Secretary of Defense and current Deputy National Security Advisor for Counterterrorism John Brennan will leave the White House to serve as director of the CIA. Both men must be confirmed by the Senate in hearings expected to begin later this month. Though both of these nominations are important in their own right, they also provide a window into the evolving foreign policy outlook of the Obama Administration. The results are decidedly mixed. Read More »
Posted by Jeffrey Wright at 4:51 pm / / Leave a comment
Friday November 09, 2012
Today the United States Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) convened a briefing on Federal Civil Rights Engagement with the Arab and Muslim American Communities Post 9/11. The commission hosted three panels to address “the success and failure of the federal government in engaging the Arab and Muslim American community post 9/11.” Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 4:59 pm / / Leave a comment
Thursday November 08, 2012
Even though Obama’s re-election is a small victory for advocates of civil liberties and global peace, these ideals are far from assured. What we won yesterday is little more than the possibility of future success, the hope that cool heads in the second Obama administration will be able and willing to see past the mistakes of the first. Read More »
Posted by Samer Araabi at 4:15 pm / / Leave a comment
Thursday October 04, 2012
Last night’s presidential debate focused on a wide range of important political issues, and displayed many of the significant differences – and similarities – between the two candidates. However, the issues ignored by the debate were equally illustrative. Read More »
Posted by Samer Araabi at 4:03 pm / / Leave a comment
Wednesday September 26, 2012
The Bronx District Attorney’s Office has dealt a blow to the city’s Stop-and-Frisk law. The New York Times reports that the District Attorney’s Office will no longer prosecute individuals arrested for trespassing at public housing complexes unless they are able to interview the arresting officer and confirm that the arrest was warranted. Read More »
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Tuesday August 21, 2012
The NYPD admitted in court Monday what many critics of its counterterrorism tactics have suspected: its extensive spying program has failed to produce a single lead or terrorism case in its six years of operation. Read More »
Posted by Frank Matt at 2:13 pm / / Leave a comment
Friday August 03, 2012
Bestselling author and investigative journalist Ronald Kessler is set to release a new edition of his book “Secrets of the FBI,” which promises new revelations about the rift between the FBI and the NYPD on the subject of counterterrorism. Anonymous sources from the FBI told Kessler that the FBI is vehemently opposed to the NYPD’s expansive spying program on Arab American and American Muslims in New York City and elsewhere. His sources from the FBI criticize the NYPD for both ineffectiveness and civil liberties violations. Read More »
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Thursday July 12, 2012
The most common defense by supporters of the NYPD’s tactics has been the vague claim that the NYPD has thwarted no less than 14 terrorism plots since September 11th, 2001, but a recent investigative piece from ProPublica has turned the claim on its head as an exaggeration bordering on fabrication. Read More »
Posted by Frank Matt at 12:17 pm / / Leave a comment
Thursday June 14, 2012
The latest issue of Newsweek contains a profile of NYPD Police commissioner Ray Kelly comes closer to tribute than journalism. Read More »
Posted by Frank Matt at 4:49 pm / / Leave a comment
Wednesday June 13, 2012
A few weeks ago, we wrote about two legislative efforts to impose independent oversight on the NYPD. The New York City Police Department is currently the only New York City agency without an independent Inspector General. At the City level, two City Council Members are introducing legislation today to change that. If the measure passes (34 out of 51 votes plus the support of the City Council Speaker are needed to push the bill through without opposition), the NYPD will have to answer to an independent Inspector General who would in turn make regular reports to the public. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 2:35 pm / / Leave a comment
Friday June 08, 2012
In response to the troubling revelations of racial, ethnic, and religious profiling by the NYPD, a leading national legal advocacy group has made a powerful and impactful response. Muslim Advocates, representing a diverse group of American Muslims, has filed suit against the New York Police Department alleging unconstitutional and discriminatory behavior in its surveillance of Arab American and American Muslim communities. Read More »
Posted by Samer Araabi at 1:08 pm / / Leave a comment
Thursday May 24, 2012
AAI President Jim Zogby and Executive Director Maya Berry co-host the latest episode of Viewpoint with James Zogby and discuss a wide-range of issues, including the roots and driving forces of Islamophobia in the United States as well as the use of surveillance and infiltration techniques used by local and federal law enforcement agencies to spy on ethnic and religious minorities. Guests include, Matt Duss of the Center for American Progress, Sarah Posner of Religion Dispatches, and MIke German from the ACLU. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 2:19 pm / / Leave a comment
Tuesday May 22, 2012
Today the New America Foundation hosted an informative discussion on the use of infiltration and surveillance by law enforcement in preventing homegrown terrorist attacks. The discussion primarily focused on the New York Police Department, and the efficacy of the vast counterterrorism unit which has drawn criticism since the Associated Press revealed that the NYPD was spying on American Muslims and Arab Americans. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 4:46 pm / / Leave a comment
Friday May 18, 2012
Two New York City councilmembers are leading an effort to make sure the New York City Police Department no longer operates without independent oversight. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 1:35 pm / / Leave a comment
Tuesday May 15, 2012
The tide is finally turning against racial profiling and Islamophobia, but it won’t happen without your help. Read More »
Posted by Samer Araabi at 12:56 pm / / Leave a comment
Monday May 14, 2012
In an amendment to an appropriations bill being considered last week, Rep. Rush Holt’s (D-NJ) [pictured left] attempted to strip federal funding from police departments that use ethnic or religious profiling, as the NYPD has done against American Muslims and Arab Americans in and around New York City. Read More »
Posted by Jeffrey Wright at 3:44 pm / / Leave a comment
Thursday May 10, 2012
Rep. Holt has also introduced H.RES 651, a resolution which would express the House of Representatives’ disapproval of the NYPD’s use of ethnic and religious profiling. Though the resolution is nonbinding, its passage would be a strong signal to Mayor Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly that the Congress disapproves of their surveillance program. Read More »
Posted by Jeffrey Wright at 3:42 pm / / Leave a comment
Looking at Iran by James Zogby
Kahlil Gibran Awards Gala - April 16, 2013
