NYCLU Halts NYPD Political Interrogation of Protesters

April 11, 2003

I am writing to all of you who responded to the NYCLU's call for reports of police misconduct on February 15.  Your reports have already helped the NYCLU win a reversal of one aspect of the New York Police Department protest policies that is fundamentally at odds with free speech.

I am pleased to report that the NYPD has announced that it will stop interrogating protesters arrested for minor offenses at demonstrations about their political associations and will abandon use of the "Criminal Intelligence Division/ Demonstration Debriefing Form" it had been using to record political activity.  The decision comes in response to a letter the NYCLU wrote to Commissioner Kelly after learning of the form.  The form provided hard evidence that confirmed the anecdotal reports the NYCLU had received from individuals, from the National Lawyers Guild mass defense team and from the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys about political interrogations of individuals arrested at the February 15 and subsequent anti-war protests.

We are pleased that the NYPD has agreed to abandon this ill-conceived practice, but it's hard to call it a great victory when the practice we've succeeded in ending is such a throwback and so antithetical to fundamental rights.

Of course, the NYCLU will continue to monitor the police policies and practices regarding political protest.

Regards,


Donna Lieberman
Executive Director
New York Civil Liberties Union