Records Detail Mosque Spying; NYPD Defends Tactics

NEW YORK (AP) — Police documents obtained by The Associated Press show the New York Police Department targeted Muslim mosques with tactics normally reserved for criminal organizations.

Police collected the license plates of worshippers, monitored them on surveillance cameras and cataloged sermons through a network of informants.

The documents have come to light as the NYPD fends off criticism about its monitoring of Muslim student groups and its cataloging of mosques and Muslim businesses in Newark, N.J.

The NYPD’s spokesman, Paul Browne, forcefully defended the legality of those efforts Thursday, telling reporters its officers may go wherever the public goes and collect intelligence, even outside city limits.

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Online:

View the NYPD documents: www.ap.org/nypd

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