NYPD Admits Its Counterterrorism Cops Are Incompetent

I’m used to fearmongering out of NYC and especially out of the NY Post.  But this article is remarkable.

Having read it, I’m convinced the headline should be,

NYPD admits its Counterterrorism squad can’t even track peaceful protestors operating publicly, to say nothing of terrorists operating in secret

Instead, three journalists repeated apparently verbatim a bunch of bitching from cops without exhibiting an ounce of skepticism.

Here’s how it described the NYPD’s concern that there will be protests in the wake of the Eric Garner verdict.

Tech-savvy anarchists ran rings around the NYPD during last week’s Ferguson-related protests — and cops are now on edge over what the renegades may be able to pull off after a ruling in the Eric Garner case.

“Anarchist … renegade,” the Post describes people peacefully availing their First Amendment rights.

But it’s the “tech savvy” that is all the more ridiculous. Before I look at what the anonymous sources told the NYP about tech, though, consider the implications of this:

Last week, activists armed with untraceable “burner phones” used social media and online bulletin boards to stay one step ahead of city cops and create mayhem after a grand jury cleared Officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

The sources at least suggest they’re tracking the communications, if not wiretapping, protestors. That is, they’re using some electronic means to track protestors; they’re not doing it all manually.

Nevertheless, the NYPD is just helpless in the face of high tech like … WiFi.

A “technology gap” also favors the activists, many of whom have the newest electronic gear, sources said.

“A lot of these anarchists are from the Occupy Wall Street group. They are little rich kids, little techie brats,’’ a source said.

“They get their money from Mommy and Daddy. And they travel from the West Coast to the East Coast and everywhere in between to disrupt events that involve corporate America, world summits, civil rights and especially those that involve law enforcement.”

“They have their little MacBook Air computers, their Wi-Fi, their smartphones, and they’re off to the races. We’re reacting to these situations, which means we are not fully in control of them,” the source said.

I mean, if the protestors did have smart phones, it’s highly unlikely they’re using burner phones, as the two are fairly incompatible in terms of security and cost considerations. But seriously. The cops want us to believe that human beings organizing with smart phones exceeds the tech they have available to them?

If I were a NYC taxpayer, I’d call for the CT squad to be shut down right away. Partly because of the insubordination in the face of people peacefully protesting. But just as significantly, because of this claimed helplessness in the face of a far easier target than they’re ostensibly paid to pursue.

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8 replies
  1. der says:

    Jim Comey’s name was redacted from the byline, we wouldn’t want the terrorists to know our deepest secrets now. If the mommy’s and daddy’s of corporate America would get out of their penthouse offices and ground their bratty, techie rich-kid childrens then Darren Wilson wouldn’t have had to shoot Michael Brown 6 times and the terrorists wouldn’t be winning. I blame Sesame Street, and socialism.

    Christ. Why do “sources” hate America?

  2. Don Bacon says:

    ” claimed helplessness in the face of a far easier target than they’re ostensibly paid to pursue”
    .
    But one can claim that thousands of ordinary citizens (mistakenly called terrorists) are a far harder target than a few real terrorists. We do have the proof.

  3. bloopie2 says:

    Walking the streets of Manhattan, it’s hard to find a cop who’s not talking on his or her cellphone. All the while “protecting and serving”. Gee, and I thought they had department-issue police radios to communicate and do their job. Maybe they need the cell phones because they can’t track their radios? Pretty high tech stuff, those two-ways.

  4. wallace says:

    quote’Nevertheless, the NYPD is just helpless in the face of high tech like … WiFi.”unquote

    Hahahahahahaha! OMG. emptywheel’s Samuri sword of satire cuts the head off the NYPD again. Hahahahahaha! goddammit emptywheel.. now if you could only channel this shit into a legal prosecution of these government bastards by virtue of rule of law. Of course, you and I both know it’s a myth. Other wise you wouldn’t be posting this shit.

  5. jerryy says:

    I have been trying not to laugh / sigh too hard at this story… dang. Too bad those ‘low-cost’ smart-phones have to leave very traceable tracks on the networks in-order to operate.
    .
    What are the folks at the NYPD going to do when the city is blanketed with free wifi?
    .
    http://www.wor710.com/articles/local-news-465659/nyc-plans-to-offer-free-wifi-12981056/
    .
    Never mind does the left hand know what the right one is doing, do the fingers on the hand even know what each other is up to?

  6. nimby says:

    Has anyone else noticed how quickly CT pivoted into using unconstitutional measures against domestic protesters? It seems their mamdate is a bit too loose. I mean, most of those protestors arent even brown people.

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