Groups seek N.J. probe of NYPD

TRENTON - Dozens of groups, including some that are faith-based and others that are student-led, have sent a letter asking New Jersey's attorney general to investigate the New York Police Department's monitoring of Muslims in Newark and other cities.

The call for an immediate investigation, sent Tuesday by 36 groups, mirrors requests made last week in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and elsewhere. The Association of Muslim American Lawyers, Islamic Information Center, and New Jersey Peace Action are among the groups that signed the letter.

The letter asks Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa to investigate the extent to which local police assisted the NYPD and whether the NYPD broke New Jersey laws, such as the Wiretapping Act. It asserts that the civil rights of law-abiding residents were violated when Muslims were targets of the 2007 surveillance.

The Associated Press reported in a series of articles that the NYPD conducted covert surveillance on Muslims in mosques, in shopping areas, and on campuses, including those of Rutgers University, after Sept. 11, 2001.

Gov. Christie, who was the U.S. attorney for the state at the time of the surveillance, has said he does not recall being briefed.

Then-Gov. Richard Codey, who signed two executive orders allowing the NYPD to conduct surveillance in the state, said he did so on advice from homeland-security experts after rail bombings in London. The orders limited surveillance to ferries and trains.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker and his police director said last month that the NYPD had misled them, telling them that it was entering Newark as part of a terrorism investigation, not that the city's entire Muslim community was under scrutiny.

Chiesa has said he was gathering facts on the NYPD's actions.

Christie said Monday his administration was reviewing the orders and considering whether to rescind them. He has criticized NYPD officials as arrogant and unwilling to notify other law enforcement groups of their activities.

NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly has said he is doing everything within the law to protect his city from another attack. The NYPD is bound under federal guidelines on how it can conduct certain investigations, and Kelly said the department follows them.