-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 NYPD Hails "Pre-emptive" Arrests, Covert Ops on Activists Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba NYC Police Reports Claim Pre-emptive Arrests Are Successful New York, March 20 (RHC)-- Five internal reports made public recently in New York City as part of a lawsuit show local police commanders had successfully used "proactive arrests," covert surveillance and psychological tactics at political demonstrations in 2002, and recommend that those approaches be employed at future gatherings. The New York Times reports that among the most effective strategies, according to one police commander, was the seizure of demonstrators on Fifth Avenue who were described as "obviously potential rioters." The reports provide a rare glimpse of internal police evaluations and strategies on security and free speech issues that have provoked sharp debate between city officials and political demonstrators. The reports also made clear what the police have yet to discuss publicly: that the department uses undercover officers to infiltrate political gatherings and monitor behavior. One of the documents -- a draft report from the department's Disorder Control Unit -- proposed in blunt terms the resumption of a covert tactic that had been disavowed by the city and the federal government 30 years earlier. Under the heading of recommendations, the draft suggested, "Utilize undercover officers to distribute misinformation within the crowds." Asked about the proposal, Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the Police Department, said: "The N.Y.P.D. does not use police officers in any capacity to distribute misinformation." In another report, a police inspector praised the "staging of mbuttive amounts" of armored vehicles, prisoner wagons and jail buses in the view of the demonstrators, writing that the sight "would cause them to be alarmed." Besides the draft report, the documents released yesterday included four final reports written by commanders to buttess police performance during the World Economic Forum, which met in New York in early 2002. According to Daniel M. Perez, the lawyer representing activists arrested at an animal rights demonstration, the police tactics "punish, control and curtail the lawful exercise of First Amendment activities." Perez maintains that the police documents, taken together, show a policy of pre-emptive arrests. It was noted that the proposal to use undercover officers to spread misinformation -- which the New York City police claim was not adopted - -- recalled the actions of undercover agents and officers who spread lies and acted as agent provocateurs among protesters who opposed the Vietnam War during the 60s and 70s, as well as COINTELPRO operations carried out by the FBI. * ================================================================ NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us ================================================================ What's Israel done for America, lately... everpt. II "Europeans have been more willing than Americans to criticise Israeli policy, which some people attribute to a resurgence of anti-semitism in Europe. We are 'getting to a point... -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (GNU-Linux) iD8DBQFEH5jtiz2i76ou9wQRAuH8AJ93Pnge-gireMN-i3x026rOhMuTaQCeMRbo q+fbEkpbOd1jVavPbMfadKQ= =ckTg -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
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