Say "Cheese", from NYT
 

from the first page of a page 1 article in the NYT, i know me and my fixie are on a few of these tapes:

New York Police Covertly Join In at Protest Rallies

By JIM DWYER
Published: December 22, 2005

Undercover New York City police officers have conducted covert surveillance in the last 16 months of people protesting the Iraq war, bicycle riders taking part in mass rallies and even mourners at a street vigil for a cyclist killed in an accident, a series of videotapes show.
Police Video Caught a Couple's Intimate Moment on a Manhattan Rooftop (December 22, 2005)

In glimpses and in glaring detail, the videotape images reveal the robust presence of disguised officers or others working with them at seven public gatherings since August 2004.

The officers hoist protest signs. They hold flowers with mourners. They ride in bicycle events. At the vigil for the cyclist, an officer in biking gear wore a button that said, "I am a shameless agitator." She also carried a camera and videotaped the roughly 15 people present.

Beyond collecting information, some of the undercover officers or their associates are seen on the tape having influence on events. At a demonstration last year during the Republican National Convention, the sham arrest of a man secretly working with the police led to a bruising confrontation between officers in riot gear and bystanders.

Until Sept. 11, the secret monitoring of events where people expressed their opinions was among the most tightly limited of police powers.

Provided with images from the tape, the Police Department's chief spokesman, Paul J. Browne, did not dispute that they showed officers at work but said that disguised officers had always attended such gatherings - not to investigate political activities but to keep order and protect free speech. Activists, however, say that police officers masquerading as protestors and bicycle riders distort their messages and provoke trouble.

The pictures of the undercover officers were culled from an unofficial archive of civilian and police videotapes by Eileen Clancy, a forensic video analyst who is critical of the tactics. She gave the tapes to The New York Times. Based on what the individuals said, the equipment they carried and their almost immediate release after they had been arrested amid protestors or bicycle riders, The Times concluded that at least 10 officers were incognito at the events.

After the 2001 terrorist attacks, officials at all levels of government considered major changes in various police powers. President Bush acknowledged last Saturday that he has secretly permitted the National Security Agency to eavesdrop without a warrant on international telephone calls and e-mail messages in terror investigations.

In New York, the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg persuaded a federal judge in 2003 to enlarge the Police Department's authority to conduct investigations of political, social and religious groups. "We live in a more dangerous, constantly changing world," Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said.

Before then, very few political organizations or activities were secretly investigated by the Police Department, the result of a 1971 class-action lawsuit that charged the city with abuses in surveillance during the 1960's.

Now the standard for opening inquiries into political activity has been relaxed, full authority to begin surveillance has been restored to the police and federal courts no longer require a special panel to oversee the tactics.

Mr. Browne, the police spokesman, said the department did not increase its surveillance of political groups when the restrictions were eased.

The powers obtained after Sept. 11 have been used exclusively "to investigate and thwart terrorists," Mr. Browne said. He would not answer specific questions about the disguised officers. Nor would he describe any limits the department placed on surveillance at public events.

Jethro M. Eisenstein, one of the lawyers who brought the class-action suit 34 years ago, said: "This is a level-headed Police Department, led by a level-headed police commissioner. What in the world are they doing?"

For nearly four decades, civil liberty advocates and police officials have fought over the kinds of procedures needed to avoid excessive intrusion on people expressing their views, to provide accountability in secret police operations and to assure public safety for a city that has been the leading American target of terrorists.

To date, officials say no one has complained of personal damage from the information collected over recent months, but participants in the protests, rallies and other gatherings say the police have been a disruptive presence.

Oh ****, I have been waiting for this story. Heads Up.

Fight fire with fire.

yeah, the story gets even more frightening on the next few pages.

i remember this girl working on this story at T's Up.

good find, msngr. I've posted it.

^^^ Word.

got a link to the full story?

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/22/ny...rtner=homepage


found it

wow

i thought we were going to get to see cute pictures of msngr.

this is just sick.

does this mean we get to start accusing people of being narcs at critical mass and alleycats?

A guy I know was accused of being a fed at one of those Time's Up bike welding meetings. Pretty insulting really. He's not a fed, and further more he's one of the most liberal people I've met.

unfortunately, this happens all over the place in activist communities anyway, especially during large, sensitive mobilizations. "i think so-and-so is a cop" blah blah blah.

at least the cops are funny to watch. like during the RNC, there were a few cops hanging around the convergence center. you can tell by their crisp, clean (maybe ironed??) Che Guevara shirts, or "Highway 420" shirts that are just too clean to be for real. every now and then, there's also the "plastic handcuffs hanging out of the backpack" giveaway.

sigh.

Like these people are the ones the cops should be protecting us from! ggggrrrr.
Homeland insecurity!

nice:

This just confirms my suspicions about big brother being everywhere whether they are invited or not.

Bicycle riders....soooo dangerous: a threat to our security!!!

no such thing as a straight, clean cop... they're all dirty like axl foley

Wow, I hope this gets on tv news since most people don't read. On a brighter note the front page of my area paper (www.app.com) is an article on the transit strike with a nice picture of people riding down 5th avenue.

How many undercover cops are infiltrating the TWU????

More wasted resources and money.

YES!!!!

narc

[edit: how's that quote go? "The police used to watch out for the people; now they're watching the people"]

I went to a Times Up bike soccer game awhile back with a friend of mine. Later that week I was at Times Up again and Bill asked me if I knew that guy since no one else did and he thought he may have been an undercover. I just thought it was pretty funny, especially because my friend was totally kicking butt in the soccer game.

To the person accused, it's a slap in the face.

the only woman i saw with a camera made the 'ride of silence' video.. could it be?

wait guys, they say they didn't do it. we're just confused, that's all. maybe some light baton work would clear things up...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051222/...d_surveillance

I myself got accused of being a cop at a bike bloc... I'm not.

i wonder why people never mistake me for the filth... or do they?!