The New York City Police Department’s controversial program of spying on Muslim neighborhoods was not as successful as the department had hoped, according to newly unsealed court documents obtained by the Associated Press.
As part of the spying program, the NYPD’s Demographics Unit infiltrated Muslim student groups, placed informants in mosques, and monitored sermons.
The goal was to catalog where Muslims were living, working and praying, so if police got a tip on a potential terrorist, that person would be easier to find.
The AP reports the commanding officer of the NYPD’s Intelligence Division testified in June that while the program is an important tool, it never created any leads or led to any terror cases.
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People who plan to do political crimes such as terrorism tend not to announce their plans in advance. To take a very relevant, but un-Islamic example,read Menachem Begin’s book on his exploits as an underground leader. He adopted many aliases – none of them were as radical nationalists. If you are planning to blow things up and shoot people – you don’t go around joining an organization that advocates such things. Whether they be good or evil, people planning to engage in political violence don’t advertise the fact, especially to the police.
The 9-11 terrorists were not hiding as radical nationalists. They pretended to be mild mannered students. A police surveilance focused on people with strong political views is unlikely to pick up any serious terrorists.