NEW YORK — A New York City law easing the way for racial profiling claims against police could entangle them in lawsuits over elusive questions about what they were thinking when stopping someone, police unions told a judge Tuesday. The unions faced off in a Manhattan court against lawyers for the city — now including…
April 17, 2014 On Tuesday, the NYPD announced it would dismantle its Demographics Unit, the controversial squad of plainclothes officers tasked with monitoring and gathering intelligence in New York’s Muslim neighborhoods. The announcement was greeted with a mix of praise (for the move, considered long overdue) and skepticism (that the department would actually end the practice of mass,…
April 15, 2014 The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) today welcomed a decision by the New York Police Department (NYPD) to disband a special unit that conducted widespread warrantless surveillance of law-abiding Muslims. That surveillance was part of a comprehensive human mapping program that described and monitored Islamic institutions,…
March 21, 2014 (RNS) Muslim Advocates and the Center for Constitutional Rights on Friday (March 21) appealed a federal judge’s ruling that affirmed the right of the New York City Police Department to spy on Muslims based on their faith and ethnicity. Last month, Newark U.S. District Judge William Martini rejected charges of illegal…
December 17, 2013 By Matt Sledge NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly received an award this month from a source that may seem unlikely: a group of Muslim community leaders. “The Muslim community appears to be softening its stance toward Ray Kelly as he walks out the door,” one tabloid crowed, suggesting that a Muslim council…
