ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Three Democratic state senators say an independent inspector should oversee the New York City Police Department after what they say are abuses including the widespread surveillance of Muslims and the crackdown on Occupy Wall Street protesters.
The bill comes in the wake of a series of articles by The Associated Press that detailed monitoring of Muslims, a tactic decried by some as religious profiling.
The measure from Sens. Kevin Parker, Eric Adams and Bill Perkins of New York City, however, appears to have little chance of passage. It lacks support by the Republican majority and has no counterpart in the Assembly.
The AP revealed that NYPD’s surveillance operations built databases about everyday life in Muslim communities.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg says police follow legitimate leads and don’t monitor ethnic neighborhoods.