A City Council bill would force the NYPD to open its anti-terror playbook to the public — a move the department warned would create a “blueprint for those seeking to do harm.”
The council’s Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology Act would require the NYPD to issue reports on what kinds of spy equipment police use — such as license-plate readers, cellphone trackers and X-ray vans used to peer through walls — as well how the department stores and protects private information collected.
But doing so could give attackers a roadmap of NYPD intelligence operations that would only help them evade cops, NYPD Counterterrorism Commissioner John Miller told a Public Safety Committee hearing Wednesday.
“This legislation would create an effective blueprint for those seeking to do harm,” he said.
“As written, it would endanger police officers’ lives and the lives of other resources and the lives of citizens who may be caught in either criminal activity or terrorist attacks.”
Council members Dan Garodnick (D-Manhattan) and Vanessa Gibson (D-Bronx) introduced the bill, which would require the NYPD to publish “impact and use” reports that detail what spy tools the force employs, as well a description of how the technology works, internal rules over its use and how the police use and protect sensitive data.
“Civilians are in control of the police force — not the reverse,” Garodnick said. “We need to be able to understand what tools the NYPD has and how it uses them to ensure public trust in our criminal justice system.”
But the proposal is pure overreach, according to NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Legal Matters Larry Byrne.
“The public must trust cops with sensitive matters,” he argued. “[The public doesn’t] have the right to know how certain technology can be used. There are very strict safeguards around how long and how these technologies are used.”
Fifteen council members have signed on as co-sponsors, though Mayor de Blasio believes the legislation is a non-starter, according to spokesman Austin Finan.
“This bill is a shortsighted overreach that would make New Yorkers less safe. We’re not about to hand over a roadmap for terrorists and criminals to avoid legal and well-established investigative techniques.”
Garodnick told the committee that he was willing to revise the bill with more input from the NYPD.
Additional reporting by Yoav Gonen