Surveillance unit produced no terrorism leads, NYPD says

[woo me with science]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/21/justice/new-york-nypd-surveillance-no-leads/index.html

Surveillance unit produced no terrorism leads, NYPD says
By David Ariosto, CNN
updated 2:32 AM EDT, Wed August 22, 2012

New York (CNN) -- A controversial NYPD surveillance unit that cataloged information on Muslim communities never produced a lead that linked to a potential terrorist plot during years of investigating, according to the head of the city's police intelligence division.

The NYPD's Demographics Unit -- or Zone Assessment Unit -- was put together with the CIA's help following the September 11, 2001, attacks. The unit has acknowledged that it engaged in monitoring that included Muslim-owned business and mosques across the New York region.

The unit's reports, however, never led to a terrorism investigation in at least six years of surveillance, according to court testimony from Thomas P. Galati, the commanding officer of the police intelligence division.

"I could tell you that I have never made a lead from rhetoric that came from a Demographics report and I'm here since 2006," he said in a June 28 deposition unsealed Monday. "I don't recall other ones prior to my arrival. Again, that's always a possibility. I am not aware of any."

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