International Journal on Criminology Volume 4, Number 2, Winter 2016 | Page 22

International Journal on Criminology
Demographics and Intelligence
The Intelligence Division has been accused in the media and elsewhere
for illegal surveillance of the Muslim community because of the activity of its
Demographics Unit, later named Zone Assessment Unit. The allegations inaccurately
characterize what was done and why. Early in its re-engineering process, it was
clear that the Intelligence Division lacked meaningful knowledge of either the
demographic makeup of the City or demographic concentrations. This was an
unacceptable condition at any time, but especially during the post-9/11 period when
there was great concern of al-Qaeda cells and/or operatives establishing themselves
in the United States, including the New York/New Jersey area.
-----The importance of this knowledge is recognized in the FBI Domestic
Intelligence Operations Guidelines [DIOG], which make clear that such
knowledge
is an important FBI Field Office responsibility.
With the risk of terrorism as the guidepost, Intelligence Division concern
included the following:
-----First, if an operative—foreign or domestic—wanted to blend in so
as not to be noticeable or appear suspicious, where are they apt to go…and
therefore, where should intelligence or other policing efforts focus should
the need arise.
-----Second, if an operative sought to recruit persons via their ability to
“hang out” with persons of similar background where would they go, again,
if the Division
received warnings from the Federal government or elsewhere of such a risk.
-----Third, should events abroad occur—an attack on Hazaras in Pakistan,
for example—where is the Hazara community concentrated in New York
City, who might need added protection. Not knowing this in advance would
be negligent in New York City.
This knowledge is neither frivolous nor surveillance. Building the knowledge
was done by deploying teams of uniformed officers in plain clothes; they would
identify locations of concentration and establish an inventory of such locations
for use when needed. The deployed teams were not involved in investigations or
intelligence collection on persons or groups of persons.
-----An example of such a need involved the Boston Marathon bombers
who were on their way to Manhattan when intercepted by local police in the
21