NYPD Commissioner Bratton Slams Ted Cruz Over Call to Patrol 'Muslim Neighborhoods'

NYPD Commissioner Bratton Slams Ted Cruz Over Call to Patrol 'Muslim Neighborhoods'

by Elisha Fieldstadt and Katy Tur

New York City's police commissioner slammed Ted Cruz Saturday for suggesting police step up patrols of "Muslim neighborhoods" after the terror attacks in Brussels, and accused the Republican presidential hopeful of exploiting the tragedy.

"We already patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods, the same way we patrol and secure other neighborhoods," Commissioner William Bratton wrote in an op-ed in the New York Daily News. "But no, we do not single out any populace, black, white, yellow or brown for selective enforcement."

"We do not 'patrol and secure' neighborhoods based on selective enforcement because of race or religion, nor will we use the police and an occupying force to intimidate a populace or a religion to appease the provocative chatter of politicians seeking to exploit fear," Bratton continued.

Bratton, along with President Barack Obama, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and the Council on American-Islamic Relations all condemned Cruz' proposal shortly after he made it Tuesday.

Republican presidential candidate Ohio Gov. John Kasich also pushed back on the proposal, saying the effort would add "more polarization" and "create divisions" in the U.S. Donald Trump, in an interview on CNN on Tuesday night, said he supports Cruz's plan "100 percent."

"It is standard law enforcement — it is good law enforcement to focus on where threats are emanating from, and anywhere where there is a locust of radicalization, where there is an expending presence of radical Islamic terrorism," Cruz expanded to reporters on Tuesday evening in Manhattan.

Bratton said that "it is clear from his comments that Sen. Cruz knows absolutely nothing about counterterrorism in New York City."

"We have in this city, without a doubt, the most effective and extensive counterterrorism capacity of any city in this country and virtually any city in the world," Bratton said.

Twenty terror plots have been foiled by the NYPD since the 9/11 attacks, according to the department.

"We police our city not by campaign slogans or inflammatory rhetoric, but by an old piece of parchment called the U.S. Constitution and another called the Bill of Rights," Bratton wrote. "Ted Cruz and others seem to be willing to sideline these principles because what they stand for shifts with the tide of the campaign and the shrillness of the name-calling."

The Cruz campaign responded Saturday:

"Ted Cruz will never allow political correctness to drive decisions about our security. Innocent, peaceful Americans, no matter their faith, deserve to live in safe neighborhoods; that is what law enforcement exists to do, and that includes preventing radical Islamic terror cells from taking root in them. The police should have every tool available to follow leads and take action against those who would do us harm. That is what Cruz is calling for and it is the basic responsibility of our elected leaders — to prioritize the safety of our citizens."

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...muslim-n546096

Just at couple of thoughts. I think federal candidates, all of them, Trump, too, need to refrain from telling local police what they need to be doing to stop or prevent terrorist attacks. If federal authorities want to uptick activity in local areas, then say that. We have separation of powers and state and local rights, so it's important to avoid over-stepping into their territory or telling them what to do when the clear failure to begin with has been at the federal level. Also, what you may want to do and can do within federal authority with federal resources shouldn't be discussed publicly anyway.

EXCLUSIVE: Ted Cruz knows 'absolutely nothing' about counterterrorism in NYC, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton says
BY Bill Bratton

Updated: Saturday, March 26, 2016, 7:18 PM

There seems to be a widespread belief among certain members of the political class that protecting the country against terrorism is a matter of ideology. According to them, the strong leaders in this area are the ones who are willing to insult Muslims, advocate torture, and engage in various other provocations. They claim that other leaders are paralyzed by political correctness and that they alone have the ideological fortitude to guard against the terrorist threat.

Terrorism is ideologically driven but counterterrorism, like other kinds of police work, has no ideological component whatsoever. It is about stopping the terrorists before they strike. That requires intelligence gathering, analysis and focused investigative work.

Front page of the New York Daily News for March 12, 2016, shows Anthony Cage with a bloody face after a confrontation at a Donald Trump rally in St. Louis March 11, 2016. Trump canceled a planned rally in Chicago amid security concerns due to crowds of protesters.
Ex-Yankee and Red Sox player Johnny Damon joins Former Yankee star Paul O'Neill in endorsing Donald Trump for president.

In the event of a terrorist attack, police also need the capacity to respond swiftly and with effective tactics. It is a matter of consistent, determined, targeted detective work, of highly trained and well-equipped operational units, and of intelligence analysts who can interpret the data, decipher the chatter and distinguish the real threats from the bluster and the noise.

Recently, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz called for police to “patrol and secure Muslim communities before they become radicalized.” We already patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods, the same way we patrol and secure other neighborhoods.

When people call the police, we rush to help them. When people break the law, we move to arrest them. But no, we do not single out any populace, black, white, yellow or brown for selective enforcement. We do not “patrol and secure” neighborhoods based on selective enforcement because of race or religion, nor will we use the police and an occupying force to intimidate a populace or a religion to appease the provocative chatter of politicians seeking to exploit fear.

Nor will we accept the fiction of Sen. Cruz’s narrative as presented. Cruz repeated the false reports surrounding the NYPD Demographics Unit and my decision to abolish it because it wasn’t serving any useful purpose. He tried to depict the demise of the unit, as other ill-informed observers have done, as a knuckling under to the forces of political correctness rather than the sensible administrative decision that it was. The fact is that the former administration had allowed the unit to dwindle down to two investigators. Why? Because the work of the unit, which was to map the ethnic makeup of the city to better understand the domain of the New York metropolitan area, was finished. The two remaining detectives simply had little to do.

This sensible move was translated in the bumper-sticker, sound bite language of politics to be one of two extremes. Either transferring the last two detectives out of the Demographics Unit ended an extensive spying program that inhibited religious freedom (it wasn’t and it didn’t) or, we eliminated the key program protecting New York City from terrorists and with it, our undercover operations, informants and surveillance (it wasn’t and we didn’t).

It is clear from his comments that Sen. Cruz knows absolutely nothing about counterterrorism in New York City. We have in this city, without a doubt, the most effective and extensive counterterrorism capacity of any city in this country and virtually any city in the world. Let me count the ways:

—The Joint-Terrorism Task Force, with the FBI, has more than 100 NYPD detectives working full time on counterterrorism investigations. They do not place entire communities under surveillance, but at any given time, based on authorized investigations, they may be watching individuals who have aroused suspicion as to possibly being involved in terrorist activity. Our Intelligence Bureau detectives work with informants, surveillance teams, undercover officers and cyber specialists on investigations that are documented, authorized and regularly reviewed to protect the city from terrorism.

—The Critical Response Command, founded on Mayor de Blasio’s watch, deploys more than 500 highly trained and thoroughly equipped officers to critical sites and potential targets. These officers would be immediately deployable to any attack, or series of attacks, and could engage heavily armed terrorists without delay. Given the pattern of attacks in Europe where terrorists hit multiple sites simultaneously and showed the clear intention to kill as many people as possible, these new units have the mission of engaging the terrorists, as quickly as possible, with equal firepower and superior training to stop the killing as soon as possible. The CRC is backed up by other commands with counterterrorism capabilities, including the Strategic Response Group and the Emergency Service Unit. These NYPD units have the capacity to deploy hundreds of heavily armed officers to any attack site in the city at any time of the day or night.

—The NYPD Counterterrorism Bureau, which encompasses both the Joint Terrorism Task Force and Critical Response Command, also houses a wide variety of other capabilities, including a 40-officer bomb squad; a 150-officer World Trade Center Command; radiological detection water vessels and aircraft; an infrastructure unit that hardens targets across the city; and a public-private partnership called SHIELD, with a membership of some 15,000 local property and business owners.

—The NYPD Intelligence Bureau is staffed not only with police officers but highly skilled civilian intelligence analysts, the sort of experts who work in national intelligence. They are continuously vetting leads, hints and rumors to keep the threat picture in New York updated. The Intelligence Bureau also maintains liaison officers in multiple cities around the world who can swiftly report back to us on any attack anywhere on Earth.

—The NYPD Domain Awareness System is one of the most sophisticated networks of cameras, license plate readers and radiological censors in the world, providing real-time information across southern Manhattan and in many other parts of the city.

So, no, transferring the two detectives we found languishing in the already defunct Demographics Unit did not have any effect on our ability to protect New York City from terrorists. Sen. Cruz’s references to the discontinuance of the Demographics Unit shows he has been hoodwinked by a 21st century fairy tale that refuses to die. He uses it in tandem with his suggestions that the police create a looming presence to intimidate Muslim neighborhoods with a show of force.

In New York City, we protect all communities from crime and terrorism — yes, Muslim communities too — because like us, they are Americans who own businesses, work hard, pay taxes and dream of a better life for their children. Over 900 of them work in my police department as police officers, many of them in counterterrorism and intelligence. Many of them have served in the military and fought for their country. We police our city not by campaign slogans or inflammatory rhetoric, but by an old piece of parchment called the U.S. Constitution and another called the Bill of Rights.

Ted Cruz and others seem to be willing to sideline these principles because what they stand for shifts with the tide of the campaign and the shrillness of the name-calling. But as it has been said, when you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything. Sen. Cruz needs to do some homework before he speaks again.

Meanwhile, in New York, we will continue keeping the city safe while policing constitutionally, respectfully and effectively.

Bratton is the commissioner of the NYPD.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.2578821

Bill Bratton Has Some Advice for Ted Cruz: ‘Shut Up’
By Jillian Jorgensen • 03/25/16 4:58pm

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton won’t be taking anti-terrorism advice from Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz anytime soon.

In respond to Mr. Cruz’s call for police to step up surveillance of Muslim neighborhoods after terror attacks in Brussels, Mr. Bratton played political consultant and offered the candidate a bit of unsolicited advice: “Shut up.”

“On my worst day, I think I know a little bit more about terrorist activities in New York City than Mr. Cruz on his best day—the guy hasn’t been in Congress in the last year, he’s been running for president,” Mr. Bratton said on WABC’s Election Central with Rita Cosby this afternoon. “What information, intelligence or expertise does he have about the issue of terrorism? So when you don’t know what you’re talking about, the best bet is to shut up. So my advice to Mr. Cruz is to shut up.”

The commissioner, who also served under Republican Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, has repeatedly knocked Mr. Cruz’s suggestion to step up patrols in Muslim neighborhoods, arguing earlier this week that doing so would paint an entire religion with too broad a brush and noting that the city has 1,000 Muslim police officers, many of them combat veterans.

“Why would we put increased, stepped up patrols in Muslim neighborhoods?” Mr. Bratton asked today. “For what purpose?”

A spokeswoman for Mr. Cruz did not immediately respond to Mr. Bratton’s remarks.

Lest anyone think Mr. Bratton was targeting Mr. Cruz for his political affiliation, the commissioner also took some time in his radio interview to tell a left-wing Democrat, Assemblyman Charles Barron, to shut up.

Earlier this week Mr. Barron warned that violence could erupt in response to Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson’s decision not to seek prison time for Peter Liang, the former police officer who was convicted of manslaughter in the shooting death of Akai Gurley.

“Mr. Barron, there’s another guy that should shut his mouth,” Mr. Bratton told Ms. Cosby on the radio. “He is very close to committing the criminal act of inciting to violence.”

But Mr. Barron, in a telephone interview with the Observer, said he was merely giving a warning.

“By me giving this city a warning, they should be grateful that I’m giving a warning,” Mr. Barron said. “I’m saying we’re trying peaceful methods. I’ve seen it all over the country: when peace fails, violence is inevitable.”

Mr. Barron pointed to a number of police-related deaths under Mr. Bratton’s current tenure and his first turn leading the police department under Mr. Giuliani. If Mr. Bratton was trying to threaten him with charges, Mr. Barron said, “tell him to bring it.”

It is the system that incites violence, Mr. Barron said, including “the police chief Bratton, who justifies all of his killer cop’s behavior and devalues black life from Akai Gurley to Eric Garner and so many other under Bratton, that’s what inciting riots. That’s inciting riots, not my rhetoric of warning at a press conference.”

http://observer.com/2016/03/bill-bra...-cruz-shut-up/

I think Trump should stick with his Muslim ban and keep other recommendations involving other agencies and political subdivisons on the "work with" "cooperate with" level and avoid specifics at this time.

Stopping the inbound flow of foreign Muslim immigrants is the number one federal priority at this time seems to me. The second would be hunting down the 6,500 to 9,500 that were admitted and after admission found to be on the terrorist watch list. These are the ones they want to remove but can't locate. They need to be found and detained for deportation or whatever you plan to do with them. It's such a mess at this point. But these are the two most important federal priorities in my opinion.