NYPD wants even more spying power than the Justice Dept. allows.....

[marmar]

:scared:



from the NY Times:


New York Police Fight U.S. Over Eavesdropping
By DAVID JOHNSTON and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM

Published: November 19, 2008


WASHINGTON — An effort by the New York Police Department to get broader latitude to eavesdrop on terrorism suspects has run into sharp resistance from the Justice Department in a bitter struggle that has left the police commissioner and the attorney general accusing the other of putting the public at risk.

The Police Department, with the largest municipal counterterrorism operation in the country, wants the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to loosen their approach to the federal law that governs electronic surveillance. But federal officials have refused to relax the standards, and have said requests submitted by the police department could actually jeopardize surveillance efforts by casting doubt on their legality.

Under the law, the government must in most cases obtain a warrant from the special Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court before it can begin electronic monitoring of people suspected of spying or terrorism. The requests are subjected to sharp scrutiny, first by lawyers at the F.B.I., then by lawyers at the Justice Department, and finally by the court itself.

New York’s department, as a local police force, cannot apply directly, but must seek warrants through the F.B.I. and the Justice Department. The police want those agencies to expedite the department’s requests, and contend that the federal agencies unfairly blocked the city’s applications for surveillance warrants, first in June and then in September. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/washington/20terror.html?hp