NYPD Demographics Unit Covertly Surveils Black Muslim Communities

The NYPD Demographics Unit — revealed publicly by AP reporters in 2011 but operational from 2003 — infiltrated Black Muslim mosques, student associations at New York-area universities, and businesses with no criminal predicate. The unit mapped Muslim communities and compiled secret files. Black Muslims were doubly targeted: surveilled as both Muslim and as part of NYPD's legacy targeting of Black political and religious life.