NEW YORK -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations is asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the New York Police Department's intelligence activities.
Officials involved in the program said the NYPD has used informants, known as "mosque crawlers," to monitor sermons, even when there's no evidence of wrongdoing. The officials also said undercover officers have been sent into minority neighborhoods to monitor daily life.
CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said that's "un-American" and may also be unconstitutional.
The NYPD denies that it trolls ethnic neighborhoods and said it only follows leads.
Hooper said CAIR also is concerned that the CIA, which is prohibited from spying on Americans, was instrumental in developing the NYPD's intelligence unit.
(Associated Press)