Long Island Police Ask Citizens to Spy on Everybody, Report Anything Suspicious

[Folks, this is starting to get paranoid and pathetic. Do you have anything like this in places where you live? Lets all say hello to police state.]


Foot soldiers to safeguard Long Island
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/l...6493.story?page=1&coll=ny-homepage-bigpix2005

LI police asking regular citizens from waiters to landlords to report signs shown by people they meet

BY CHAU LAM
STAFF WRITER

July 24, 2005

Suffolk County police dropped by at Eileen Quinn's self-storage business in St. James and left a card advising her to call a hotline if she spotted anything suspicious.

Vincent Malizia received a visit at his restaurant in Sayville from a patrol officer who asked him to report customers who refuse to check their backpacks.

A pair of officers showed up at Poseidon Pool and Spa in Melville and suggested that owner Joseph Gartner jot down the license plate numbers of customers purchasing huge quantities of chlorine.

"In today's world," Gartner said after the surprise visit, "everybody's a suspect."

Across Long Island, thousands of regular citizens -- from shop clerks to waiters to landlords and teachers -- are quietly being asked to enlist as foot soldiers in the war on terror through Operation Safeguard.

Interviews and documents show that the unique statewide plan, started last year by the New York State Office of Homeland Security, aims to use local police to contact citizens who are encouraged to identify, report -- and even confront -- possible terrorists.

The authorities are asking Long Islanders to do everything from reporting on diners' conversations to monitoring strangers' Internet use to observing fellow worshipers at religious services to noting when parents withdraw their kids from school.

Once gathered by the local police, contact information from participating businesses and organizations -- names, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses -- is forwarded to the Albany-based agency, which uses the data to warn of threats. Tips from Operation Safeguard are forwarded to a Joint Terrorism Task Force made of local, state and federal authorities.

Blunt reminders to be wary

The recent bombings in London serve as blunt reminders of how important it is for New Yorkers to be aware of their surroundings and report anything suspicious, terror experts and local government officials say. While Operation Safeguard is not being conducted in response to any specific threat, police say they want to do what they can to thwart future terrorist attacks.

Suffolk and Nassau county executives, along with high-ranking police officers and a top Suffolk school security official, endorse Operation Safeguard, characterizing the state's requests as reasonable given the level of perceived threat.

"If everybody does their bit to be vigilant and report suspicious activities, then they become part of the mosaic contributing to making the whole nation safe," said Nassau Assistant Police Chief Anthony Rocco. "Homeland security is hometown security."

But critics of Operation Safeguard, including civil liberties advocates, area librarians and some business people, worry that the program will be difficult to implement, pit neighbor-against-neighbor, prove invasive and pull innocent people into its net.

Jared Feuer, director of the Suffolk chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said Operation Safeguard will lead to racial profiling and turns Long Islanders into spies, asking them to monitor the day-to-day activities of just about everyone they encounter.

"It's based on people acting or looking differently and that definitely includes race," Feuer said, arguing that Arabs and people of the Muslim faith are more likely to be singled out by Operation Safeguard, given that the terrorists who attacked New York and Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001, came from the Middle East.

For Kevin McCoy, chairman of the Suffolk County Library Associations's intellectual freedom committee, Operation Safeguard presents a stark choice.

"They are asking us to spy on our patrons," he said "It's sweeping. You no longer look at people as patrons but you're looking at everyone as potential criminals."

Making the rounds

So far, 12 officers working in the Suffolk Police Department's Community Oriented Patrol Enforcement section have as part of their rounds contacted more than 2,500 organizations and businesses as part of Operation Safeguard, according to Deputy Chief Mark White. The list includes a sky diving center in East Moriches, a paintball arena in West Babylon and a truck rental depot in East Northport. Suffolk police intend to contact 10,000 establishments over the next three years, White said.

Officers from Nassau's Problem Oriented Policing unit are participating, but they've contacted only 50 businesses to date.

In all, police are visiting 70 types of organizations. The list of establishments Operation Safeguard recommends police "target" includes libraries, schools, churches, synagogues, bars, sellers of religious vestments, abortion clinics, jewelry stores, restaurants, real estate agents, scuba shops, veterinarians and plastic surgeons.

James McMahon, director of the state Office of Homeland Security, did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.

James Carafano, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation think tank, and Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University, said they know of no other states that have adopted a similar anti-terror approach.

"This is the first state that has asked libraries to do this," said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the American Library Association's Washington, D.C., office.

Operation Safeguard was created last summer by the New York Office of Homeland Security, an agency established by Gov. George Pataki and the State Legislature. The office, which has a budget of $17.5 million and a staff of 86, patterned Operation Safeguard after the New York Police Department's Operation Nexus, said White of the Suffolk Police Department. City police have sought cooperation from 25,000 businesses.

Nassau and Suffolk police say neither county is spending additional money or receiving state funds to implement the program, which relies on officers incorporating anti-terror visits into their routine duties.

"We have to share information," Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi said. "And the public has to be involved."

When it comes to homeland security, "there is nothing more important," echoed Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy. "You can't afford to make mistakes in this era."

A worthwhile endeavor?

It remains to be seen, terror experts told Newsday, whether Operation Safeguard will prove effective because it doesn't have a track record and they know of no other similar programs internationally. What's more, the program's success depends on the timing and quality of information it gathers.

"On some level it's like taking a shot in the dark, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't do it," said Ben Tucker, associate professor of criminal justice at Pace University in Manhattan.

Studies show that community policing, on which Operation Safeguard is loosely based, cuts crime by providing a direct path for information from citizens to authorities who can respond quickly to threats and incidents, according to David Venturella, former acting director of Detention and Removal at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Operation Safeguard is designed to identify patterns among attackers, Carafano said. "It's not about ratting on your neighbors."

White equates Operation Safeguard and its toll-free telephone tip lines with well-established Crime Stoppers and Neighborhood Watch programs. "Only now," White said, police are "expanding their horizons to include potential terrorist activities."

Ken Brown, a spokesman for the Office of Homeland Security, said the agency "makes every effort to ensure that no individual's privacy rights are compromised."

Still, Carafano and other terror analysts worry that law enforcement agencies may abuse Operation Safeguard unless their activities are closely monitored by civil liberties groups and state authorities.

Businesses, schools, libraries and other organizations must participate voluntarily, police must avoid false arrests and the state must maintain tight control over the information it gathers, terror experts said. "How it's implemented is crucial," Carafano explained.

Anti-crime vs. anti-terror

It's illogical to compare community anti-crime programs with anti-terror programs, according to professor Charles B. Strozier, director of the Center on Terrorism at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, because terror plots are difficult to detect and government warnings only fuel the public's sense of anxiety and helplessness. "Terrorism is very, very different from criminal activity," Strozier said. "Those who are in charge tend to apply a criminal justice model and it doesn't work."

Faroque Khan, president of the Islamic Center of Long Island, said he supports citizens notifying authorities of something out of the ordinary. "It's my civic responsibility." But he added, "I don't need the cops to tell me so." Khan said police must guard against neighbors making false accusations. Operation Safeguard "may lead to persecution or harassment of people," he said.

Local police declined to discuss possible threats or list the specific schools, libraries and businesses participating in the program.

However, the literature being distributed by police and comments made during interviews with individuals contacted by Operation Safeguard reflect concern among authorities over a sweeping array of potential terror acts. They include school takeovers, bus assaults, chemical attacks, surveillance with remote control model airplanes and research into the manufacture of "improvised explosive devices."

A two-page letter from McMahon distributed to local schools, for example, advises personnel to be on the look out for "general indicators" that could signal terror plots, including attempts by individuals to gain information on bus routes and the religious composition of the student body.

The anti-terror letter distributed by police offers recommendations on how ordinary citizens may confront "a suspicious person" or a "suspect" by asking them for identification or the purpose of their visit. The letters advise asking: "May I help you with anything?" "May I see some identification?" "Who are you visiting?" "What is the purpose of your visit?"

The letter also advises school personnel to "only approach or question a suspicious person if you feel comfortable. If you feel uncomfortable or threatened, seek assistance."

Larry Speciner, program administrator and chief safety officer for Eastern Suffolk BOCES, supports the effort. "One of the best way to keep schools safe is to be aware of what happens in and around schools," Speciner said. "To my eyes, it's not intrusive at all."

Local librarians, though, warn the program will be logistically difficult, violate patrons' privacy, and raise concerns that law enforcement is overstepping its powers. Directors at Central Islip Public Library, South Country Library in Bellport, and Half Hollow Hills Community Library in Dix Hills said they have already been contacted by police.

"If we see something unusual, we would report it," Anne Pavlak, director of the Central Islip Public Library. But Pavlak said her library does not have the means to track what patrons are reading during visits or which Web sites they log on to, noting "no library has the staff to do that," she said. Plus, "we always try to keep our patrons as private as possible."

About a dozen business people interviewed backed Operation Safeguard as a way to protect the public and Michael Forbes, chief executive of the Chamber of Commerce Regional Business Partnership, said the program is "reassuring."

Joseph Gartner, the owner of Poseidon Pool and Spa, said he understands why police asked him to closely monitor the sale of bulk chlorine because in its concentrated form the chemical can cause fires and explosions and emit toxic fumes.

"If somebody wants 50 drums, they're not getting them unless I know what they want them for," Gartner said. "I have no problem with taking down license plate numbers."

Well worth the effort

Pointing out the "1-866-SAFE-NYS" card from Suffolk County's Fourth Precinct she keeps propped up on her computer keyboard, Quinn, who has the self-storage business in St. James, said, "If we have to take a few moments out of our day to keep ourselves and our neighbors safe, it's well worth it."

Frank Paruolo, a Sayville real estate broker, said Fifth Precinct Police Officer Marc Frascogna asked him to report anyone who presents multiple forms of identification or buys a house and leaves it vacant. "This is not something that's going to infringe on my responsibility to my clients," said Paruolo.

Vincent Malizia, co-owner of the nearby Collins & Main restaurant, said his waiters and waitresses are too busy to listen in on diners' conversations. But after his visit from police, Malizia briefed his employees and asked them to note unusual activity. "If a customer comes in with a backpack and doesn't want to check it ... that could be suspicious," he said.

But others in the business community expressed concern that the guidelines are vague, forcing them to make uncomfortable snap judgments about customers, their intentions, and the law.

One Operation Safeguard handout, for example, asks business people to rely on their "experience" and "impressions" to sniff out an unusual "fact pattern" that may indicate a brewing plot. Police "just left it to our imaginations," said Alan Talman, owner of Karps Hardware Store in East Northport, which also rents trucks.

Consequently, he said, its difficult to strike a balance between minding his own business and looking out for the public good. "If someone rents a truck and buys a lot of fertilizer, we are going to be suspicious," Talman said. "But I'm not the cops."

Staff writers Stacey Altherr, Erik German, Ruth Tisdale, Cristian Salazar, Robert Tuttle, and Hilary Russ contributed to this story.

 

Take a hike.

 

Debasing your status to a lowly feline, bigtexxx, way to go.

 

Or you can bury your head in the sand all you want.

 

"Suspicious" is a vague and subjective term. What you deem suspicious may well be perfectly legal, albeit unnecessarily "normal". Excessive suspicions in a society are indication of uncertainty and instability, to say the least. The collective mentality under such circumstance is by no means healthy.