NYC To Appoint Civilian Monitor To Examine Police Surveillance

[news]

[news]

NEW YORK, Jan 7 (Reuters) - New York City's police department will install a civilian monitor to examine its counterterrorism efforts as part of a settlement of two federal lawsuits claiming the department illegally targeted Muslims for surveillance, according to court papers filed on Thursday.

Details of the accord came months after court filings indicated that the city had agreed in principle to settle the claims, brought in separate lawsuits in Manhattan and Brooklyn by the New York Civil Liberties Union and other groups.

Following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the department pursued an aggressive surveillance program that used undercover officers to infiltrate mosques, Muslim organizations and Muslim-owned businesses, building files on individuals and neighborhoods.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who campaigned in part on reining in police excesses, ended the program in April 2014, three months after taking office.

The settlements also explicitly call on the department to prohibit investigations in which race, ethnicity or religion is a motivating factor, a practice that police officials say is already the standard.

The city is not admitting any wrongdoing as part of the agreements, both of which are subject to approval by federal judges

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Tom Brown)
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