A U.S. court has directed the New York Police Department to eliminate its online records pertaining to investigation of Islamic extremists in the West.
FREE BEACON: “As part of a settlement agreement reached earlier this month with Muslim community advocates in U.S. District Court, the NYPD will purge from its website an extensive report that experts say has been critical to the department’s understanding of radical Islam and its efforts to police the threat.
The court settlement also stipulates that the NYPD make a concerted effort to mitigate the impact of future terror investigations on certain religious and political groups, according to a copy of the court documents published by the American Civil Liberties Union, which has spearheaded the case since June 2013.”
Much of the settlement pertains to the NYPD’s use of a document entitled “Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat.” The document was produced by the department’s intelligence division in order to educate law enforcement and politicians on how radicalized Muslims make their way to the U.S. and carry out an attack.
The NYPD will be required, as part of the settlement, to delete the document from its online database and may not rely on it in the future.
The settlement has striking similarities to the changes that took place nationally a few years ago. It began with the Obama administration’s removal words like “Islamic extremism” and “jihad” from the nation’s National Security Strategy document in 2010. In 2011 and 2012, the censorship continued with the removal of modification of books and training materials used by counter-terrorism training programs worldwide.
What does the purging of the obvious accomplish? Does the U.S. government honestly believe scrubbing counter-terrorism strategy of offensive content will assist in keeping Americans safe? What we do know is that knowing one’s enemy is vital. The more difficult it is for law enforcement and government officials point out potential threats, the less safe America will be.
