Recently it was disclosed that the New York City Police department has been electronically monitoring groups of Muslims residing in places like Newark, New Jersey and Yale University for over ten years. According to numerous reports, if the investigation uncovered suspicious activity, undercover officers were dispatched to conduct surveillance operations on those persons involved. All of this was done without any warrants, probable cause of criminal activity and apparently without regard for the constitutional rights of the American Citizens who were the targets of these probes. When confronted with the public scrutiny these activities deserve, NYC Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly literally laughed off the questions and brazenly admitted his department's involvement. He rationalized the activities by stating the safety of New York City was paramount to any constitutional rights that may have been violated. Mayor Bloomberg then publicly praised Commissioner Kelly and vowed to continue the activities. Unbelievably, the source of the funding for these operations may have come from the Homeland Security Department and the White House. On his morning radio show on WABC in New York, Geraldo Rivera fielded several calls from listeners who voiced their opinions on the matter. Although it is not a scientific poll, anecdotal evidence suggests New Yorkers were very much in support of these actions by their police department.
Frustrated with these views, I called in and pointed out the NYC Police do not have jurisdiction outside of the city and was laughed at. I then asked how New Yorkers would feel if the Mayor of Boston sent police officers to spy on Irish American neighborhoods in NYC. Geraldo's answer? "Well, how do you know he isn't already?" When I mentioned none of the current spying operations by the NYPD would have prevented 9-11 from happening, I was met with dubious skeptisism.
So what about the surveillance operations? Well, like it or not, the NYC does not have a right to spy on fellow American Citizens without probable cause that a crime is involved, no matter what their intentions are. As reported by Fox News http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/03/02/can-police-spy-on-us/ no police agency has the authority to do what the NYPD is doing. How this ends up is anybodys guess but I hope everyone who has been a victim of these operations takes legal action against the agencies involved. At the very least there should be a rigorous debate about the perception of safety versus the constitutional rights we all enjoy. Is there a point when civil rights violations in the pursuit of safety are unacceptable? If so have we reached that point yet with the ever intrusive TSA searches and now police covert spying operations all in the name of preventing another 9-11? I hope so because any further escalation of this philosophy will only lead to a complete destruction of our free society as we know it now. Think I'm being too dramatic? Think it can't happen here? If you do, I suggest you read up on some of your world history because there are plenty of examples of free societies who destroyed themselves from within with these same views and actions.
