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. pete,

    “i’ve been reading about one area in ny where over 90% of people there have been subjected to stop and frisk.”

    I doubt it was the “high rent district.”

  2. Hey Pete,
    I think they are related. it takes a certain kind of person to blindly follow orders no matter regardless of their contentThat’s what I mean. They recruit just such conscienceless people because they will follow blindly and without allowing morals and human considerations to interfere.

  3. eniobob

    i’ve been reading about one area in ny where over 90% of people there have been subjected to stop and frisk.

  4. Oh one more link to what is going on in New York and has folks in an uproar,and goes hand in hand with the “stop and frisk”.

    “New York Civil Liberties Union officials filed a lawsuit seeking to place restrictions on a program that allows police to pull over some taxis and liveries, alleging that officers are using these inspection stops to question and search passengers.”

    http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2011/05/26/lawsuit-challenges-nypds-taxi-stop-and-frisk-effort/

    “pete
    1, October 23, 2011 at 1:06 pm
    i’m more concerned about people who are just “doing what they are told’

  9. Raflaw-
    Great article. I saw a report a few years ago that said the 25% of people have no conscience. Not that they supress their conscience, they never had one and do not feel empathy, sympathy, or mercy.

    I’m thinking….only 25%?

    The worst part of the study said that although these people have no conscience, they do understand the concept; that is, they understand that other people do things motivated by kindness but they don’t understand why.
    They do know that the majority of people disapprove of the attitude that accompanies a lack of conscience so they cover it up by pretending to care and show emotion. Emotions and beliefs that they are in truth incapable of feeling.
    I suspect that the CIA and all other intelligence and police forces have an inordinate number of these people and even those who are not must suppress their emothions and as with workers in the meat industy; they become jaded to the torture and killing and pain that they inflict everyday.

  10. Jill,

    We also need citizens who aren’t so willing to relinquish some of their rights in hopes of trading them for their safety.

    *****

    rafflaw,

    Good post!

  12. TJColatrella1, 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..!
    ———————————————————————–
    Most of us have never lost it.
    You can get mugged and robbed without becoming a criminal.
    Broken bones heal.
    Killing and hurting people has a nasty way of turning back on the hurters.
    And most criminals either escalate their criminal wrangling to the point of ridiculous over the top, nekkid so everyone can see behavior, or they slink off into the shadows to find some new vulnerable mark.
    In any event the fruits of what they do are not hidden. Neither is their how or why.
    And the ones that cover up for them, or try to blame the victims….they are not so unknown either.
    Luckily these people are the minority. (some say the 1%, but I don’t agree with that ….).

  13. Joint Terrorism Task Force. Every city, most 3 lettered agencies work together in fusion centers against American citizens.

    Yes, we need brave men and women as whistleblowers. We need brave men and women to say, NO. No more denial. No more tolerance of illegalities and cruelty committed by the president, the congress, the courts and the police state.

  14. 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.
    ————————————————
    well, it seems to me that this IS the breach in National Security.

    And if the courts, the cops, and the politicians are the thugs….then what?

  15. I suppose NYPD could be accurately named….C-PoD…..for all of the domestic spying….

  16. Good Morning to you AN…Hope you feel safe, warm and fuzzy now that you know that the NYPDCIA has your best interest at heart…..

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

    True…, but it shouldn’t stop someone who gives a damn about the future of this country.

    =========

    Glenn Greenwald’s article today:

    http://www.salon.com/2011/10/23/wikileaks_cables_and_the_iraq_war/singleton/

    Excerpt:

    “Manning’s goal in leaking those cables — “hopefully worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms . . . i want people to see the truth… regardless of who they are… because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public” – have been fulfilled beyond what must have been his wildest dreams. He was motivated precisely by seeing cables of the sort that detailed this civilian slaughter in Iraq, and the extreme levels of theft and oppression by Arab dictators, and the desire to have the world know about it. Meanwhile, those responsible for the Iraq War, and who suppressed freedom and democracy in the Middle East by propping up those tyrants, and who committed a slew of other illegal and deeply corrupted acts, continue to prosper and wield substantial power.”

    History is filled with examples of those who most bravely challenged and subverted corrupted power and who sought reforms being rewarded with prison or worse, at the hands of those whose bad actions they exposed. If Bradley Manning did leak these cables, his imprisonment is a prime example of that inverted justice. (end of excerpt)

    (Thanks for this article rafflaw.)

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