Mississippi Pol Says NYPD is a Busy Body

The new chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee says the NYPD thinks it's the NPD - the National Police Department. The Daily News reports that Democratic Mississippi representative Bennie Thompson is critical of the NYPD's tactics that stretch into other jurisdictions. He told the News, "While I understand that chasing down leads in other locales might help keep the city safe, I emphasized that the NYPD is not the FBI, that it does not have national jurisdiction."

When did he emphasize this? During a sit-down with NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence David Cohen, after Thompson had sent a letter to Police Commissioner Kelly that noted concerns over issues like NYPD surveillance before the Republican National Convention.

"There is no question that the NYPD must remain diligent in its fight against terrorism. However, I emphasized during my meeting with NYPD officials that essential to that fight is an uncompromising respect for the privacy rights and civil liberties of our citizens," Thompson told The News. "While I was encouraged by NYPD's assurances that it hews strictly to tough privacy and civil liberties guidelines and policies, a practice I encouraged them to update me about regularly, I was troubled by the NYPD's revelations about its homeland activities outside New York City."

Commissioner Kelly said that the NYPD did tell local authorities about their pre-RNC work. And a Republican source tells the Daily News, "Thompson has a very liberal staff, which has its own agenda and sees the NYPD as a bunch of right-wing fascists." Republican Peter King, the former chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, said, "The NYPD is the best at what it does. And the bottom line is the NYPD has filled a breach in homeland security."

The Daily News is a bit skeptical of Thompson's claims, given that the News reports Thompson's small town mayor experience is limited to a town that's shy of a seven hundred people. And the News' Michael Daly's column says that it's a charade that Thompson's county, Hinds County, received a $179,724 Homeland Security grant. This story also reminds us of a 2005 New Yorker article by William Finnegan about the NYPD's international counterterrorism practices. Here's one part:

Within the counterterrorism world, the department’s transformation is highly regarded. “The N.Y.P.D. is really cutting-edge,” Brian Michael Jenkins, a senior adviser at the rand corporation and a respected authority on terrorism, told me. “They’re developing best practices here that should be emulated across the country. The Feds could learn from them.” The federal government must, of course, play the leading role in stopping international terrorism at the borders. But, Jenkins said, “As this thing metastasizes, cops are it. We’re going to win this at the local level.”

Photograph by Triborough on Flickr

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By Jen Chung in News on May 13, 2007 2:09 PM

Comments [rss]

Fallen Star

I posted over on Urban Elephants about this. Remember, it's Thompson's fellow Democrats that put him in the chair, including those in the New York City delegation, one of whom -- Yvette Clarke -- serves with Thompson on that very committee.

Maybe Bennie Thompson is just some left-wing nutjob, but I wonder if anyone has thought to ask if New York's Dems agree with their chair's analysis. How does potential Mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner feel? Or at least how about the more conservative Gary Ackerman or Steve Israel?

One would assume that with the Dems now in power, NYC would have more power, not less!

Still Not Amused

He's right ! The NYPD shouldn't be granted nationwide jurisdiction . Yes I understand the whole "Terrorist" Plot thing . It's still not the NYPD's place to have that right of other states . I see the argument here and the use of "Terror" is for shock value, Nothing more . Besides, Any Police Dept. in this country has a limited right to encroach upon other states jurisdictions such as a car chase, OR Investigation into a fugitive hiding in there midst . As long as they notify the local authorities for permission .

citizen

the NYPD should stick to New York City investigations and enforcement issues and pass any and all interstate cases up to the FBI... Since when is a local agency given juristiction over state lines?

lbarnett

"I'm from Mississippi. Benny Thompson is sorta like the Magnolia State's equivalent of John Liu, if you know what I mean."

You mean that Benny Thompson also graduated from Bronx High School of Science????

NoBody

I'm from Mississippi. Benny Thompson is sorta like the Magnolia State's equivalent of John Liu, if you know what I mean.

j

Tell this congressman that the NYPD is protecting us where the federal government cannot, and that if he is responsible for weakening New York's defenses, the responsibility will lie with him.

Here's his contact info:

Bennie Thompson

2432 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20515

(202) 225-5876

(202) 225-5898 (Fax)

nell karter

Give me a break,

don't get me started, don't even get me started.

The rand corp?? pluuzzze.

Tim N.

Not sure if the piece is unclear or I'm just half-asleep, but I'm not exactly sure what happened to get Congressman Thompson involved in this in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, I think the NYPD has a lot to answer for around the RNC, but I read this article and thought, who's the real buttinski here?