On Monday, the New York Police Department
sent its warrant squads after an unusual set of suspects: people who
had old warrants for the lowliest of violations, misconduct too minor,
usually, to draw the attention of those squads.
But those who were questioned by the warrant squads said the officers had an ulterior motive: gathering intelligence on the Occupy Wall Street
protests scheduled for May 1, or May Day. One person said he was
interviewed about his plans for May Day. A second person said the police
examined political fliers in his apartment, and then arrested him on a
warrant for a 2007 open-container-of-alcohol violation.
Officials have yet to respond to questions about the tactics, but one
police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not
authorized to speak to reporters about police policy, said the strategy
appeared to be an extension of a policy used at events where crowd
control could be an issue. Before certain parades that have been marred
by shootings, for example, the warrant squads have tracked down gang
members who live nearby to execute outstanding warrants, no matter how
minor, the official said.
But the department’s use of this tactic as part of its strategy for
policing the Occupy Wall Street movement raises new questions about the
surveillance efforts by the Police Department, which faces restrictions
in monitoring political groups.
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