Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Free Speech, Justice

The Unholy Marriage Between the CIA and NYPD

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger

If you think the Government is allowed to spy on Americans too much already, this next story will increase your blood pressure.  It was recently disclosed by the Associated Press that a CIA undercover operative has been directly advising the New York Police Department for at least 3 months.  I could have sworn that it was illegal for the CIA to spy on Americans, but nothing has been done to curb this possible violation and abuse of American’s privacy. “Many of these operations were built with help from the CIA, which is prohibited from spying on Americans but was instrumental in transforming the NYPD’s intelligence unit.  A veteran CIA officer, while still on the agency’s payroll, was the architect of the NYPD’s intelligence programs. The CIA trained a police detective at the Farm, the agency’s spy school in Virginia, then returned him to New York, where he put his new espionage skills to work inside the United States.  And just last month, the CIA sent a senior officer to work as a clandestine operative inside police headquarters.”   MSNBC

The CIA has advised the NYPD since shortly after 9/11.  The “cooperation “ between the CIA and NYPD is still active today.  The program was initiated in 2002 under the tutelage of CIA operative David Cohen.  Of course, many of the details of this CIA/NYPD spy unit and its activities are secret.  According to MSNBC,  ” … officials said they’ve also been careful to keep information about some programs out of court, where a judge might take a different view. The NYPD considers even basic details, such as the intelligence division’s organization chart, to be too sensitive to reveal in court.” A large part of the questions and complaints about this partnership revolves around the alleged profiling and spying on the Muslim community in New York City.

Does this partnership between the CIA and NYPD bring up any constitutional issues?  Can a city police department keep the details of this unit secret from even the courts purview?  Can the CIA legally allow an undercover agent to spy on Americans under the guise of working for or advising the NYPD?  That last question concerns members of Congress who have taken an interest in this alliance.

“James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, mischaracterized him to Congress as an “embedded analyst” – his office later quietly said that was a mistake – and acknowledged it looked bad to have the CIA working so closely with a police department.  All of this has troubled lawmakers, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who has said the CIA has “no business or authority in domestic spying, or in advising the NYPD how to conduct local surveillance.”  “It’s really important to fully understand what the nature of the investigations into the Muslim community are all about, and also the partnership between the local police and the CIA,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., a member of the House Intelligence Committee.”  Readersupportednews

The facts seem clear that the CIA has a significant presence in the NYPD and at least one US Senator and one Congresswoman have asked questions about the legality of this program.  More questions come to mind when reviewing these facts.   Could the NYPD be using the CIA’s spies to overcome judicial and legislative oversight of their activities by hiding behind the National Security super defense?  The RSN article linked above tells us that the CIA’s Inspector General is investigating whether this combination is legal, but I for one have little faith in the CIA investigating itself.  Without all the facts behind this program, will we ever learn the true story?

Finally, if this program has been underway in NYPD for almost a decade, are other cities across the country also in bed with the CIA?  As usual when it comes to the CIA, we have far too many questions and not enough answers.  Maybe we need a good whistle-blower to shine some light on this shady alliance!  What do you think?

Additional sources:  MySanAntonionews; Newsone; ABC News;

Huffington Post;

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty, (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger

54 thoughts on “The Unholy Marriage Between the CIA and NYPD”

  1. Thanks for this, Rafflaw.

    Perhaps I believe the judicial branch of government is the cause of all harm, and perhaps I believe that without enough (ENOUGH??) evidence, but the sentence you wrote about the CIA and NYPD arranging to hide their conduct from the courts was very interesting to me, because usually, unconstitutional conduct does not need to be hidden very vigorously; the majority of courts will excuse any kind of constitutional deprivation behind blandishments about the harm not being bad enough or the procedural rules not giving them entrez to consider the problems raised. Here, however, you see an interesting phenomenon: government agencies choosing to do known wrongs against targeted populations with the advance planning in place to defend themselves, no matter what happens, by scaring folks (national security will be compromised if you try to make us stay within the confines of the laws we are said to protect) into accepting a thugs-are-teflon situation. Thugs-are-Teflon (“TAT”) just leads to rat-tat-tat (protestors are machine-gunned down) and in that case, national security becomes even more important. I have no faith whatsoever in our courts and in my opinion, that is what got us to the present. You can’t convince me that all these idiot decisions, from “the beating wasn’t bad enough to constitute a constitutional deprivation” to “the defendants are immune” to “there is no pattern of discriimination” to “the plaintiff’s tried due process but they should’ve tried equal protection” to “fuggedaboudit” to Chief Justice Taney, tell us who we really are! We have tolerated this. We have not torn down these courthouses and said, “ENOUGH!” We will suffer the results of our terrible inaction.

  3. Rafflaw: “Maybe we need a good whistle-blower to shine some light on this shady alliance! What do you think?”
    —

    I think a good whistle-blower in the CIA would quickly find his/her self on the President’s hit list.

  4. raff;

    I don’t know if they have anything in common but here’s another thing that is
    upsetting a lot of people in New York and the Feds have been asked to investigate,like I said I don’t know if they have anything in common but here it is.

    http://www.nyclu.org/issues/racial-justice/stop-and-frisk-practices

    http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2011/10/20/2011-10-20_nypds_stopandfrisk_policy_deserves_a_federal_probe_its_racebased_and_ineffective.html

    http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/protesters-of-police-stop-and-frisk-practice-are-arrested/

    “TJColatrella
    1, October 22, 2011 at 10:18 pm
    You loose your Democracy most often by increment…then one day you awake and it’s gone, and you can never get it back..!”

    T JColatrella,I hope you don’t mind me using your post for it fits here also.

  5. Officer Michael Daragjati had no idea that the FBI was listening to his phone calls. Otherwise he would probably not have described his arrest and detention of an innocent black New Yorker in the manner he did.

    Daragjati boasted to a woman friend that, while on patrol in Staten Island, he had “fried another nigger”. It was “no big deal”, he added. The FBI, which had been investigating another matter, then tried to work out what had happened … The shocking story has added to a growing sense that there are serious problems of indiscipline and law-breaking in US police forces.

    (Guardian, 10/22/11)

  7. I guess, we should all, just be more worried about them “dirty hippies” over at that occupy Wall street thing…

  9. I doubt the CIA partners well with anyone who hasn’t sworn complete allegiance to the CIA, however, I have been hearing for a few years now that the intelligence gathering arm of the NYPD is excellent.

    It is conceivable that the CIA, out of a huge sense of guilt for its complete and utter failure to protect this nation on 9/11 and the weeks leading up that horrific attack, bit the humble bullet and genuinely helped the NYPD to build their intelligence wing.

    However, the CIA is much like genital herpes as they stay indefinitely frequently causing psychological distress in those who know they are infected. There is no known cure.

  10. Finally, if this program has been underway in NYPD for almost a decade, are other cities across the country also in bed with the CIA? As usual when it comes to the CIA, we have far too many questions and not enough answers. Maybe we need a good whistle-blower to shine some light on this shady alliance! What do you think?
    ===========================================================

    i think that somewhere in washington (or langley virginia), there’s a folder (or computer file) with your name on it and someone just entered this post into it.

    and remember, they hate us for our freedom.

  11. You loose your Democracy most often by increment…then one day you awake and it’s gone, and you can never get it back..!

  14. Pingback: The Unholy Marriage Between the CIA and NYPD « JONATHAN … | Marriage is Unique

  15. What Martin said.

    At this point in my life, if anyone catches me trusting the government, just get civil commitment papers on me because you will know I have lost my mind.

  16. Raff,
    Good catch. I had too also been under the belief that statutorily the CIA can’t operate within the US. However, with 9/11 and the resultant Patriot Act all boundaries appear to have fallen. It’s amazing we still have a modium of freedom remaining, though the elite would stamp that out and yet may.

  17. rafflaw:

    “Could the NYPD be using the CIA’s spies to overcome judicial and legislative oversight of their activities by hiding behind the National Security super defense?”

    That is a ludicrous notion–the CIA, NYPD and Federal government would never ever do such a thing–just ask them. And besides, don’t you know that 9/11 changed everything and we’re at war?

  19. Great Article Raff…..Not being all that familiar with the CIA except for what I have read and it ain’t pretty….

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