New Details Emerge About Clarkstown Surveillance of Black Groups

NEW CITY, NY — Black members of the Rockland County community group "We the People" were investigated by the Strategic Intelligence Unit of the Clarkstown Police Department, according to an investigative report by NBC New York.

Residents who were in a confidential police intelligence report obtained by the I-Team called the criminal background checks "racial profiling" on the NBC news show.

According to the I-Team, Rockland officials interviewed by the reporters changed their story: first insisting that all the information compiled about the group's members came from public sources and then saying that the members were run through the Clarkstown Police Department's criminal database but not the state's. The I-Team also reported that Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said the goal was to "put a safety net" over We the People and a local Black Lives Matter group.

See the entire report on NBC New York.

The Strategic Intelligence Unit is at the center of intense fighting between Clarkstown's suspended police chief, a police sergeant who ran the SIU until his suspension and retirement, the DA, the Clarkstown Town Board, and the Rockland County Legislature.

Town officials allege that the unit did surveillance also on Clarkstown Town Supervisor George Hoehmann and contributions to Hoehmann's campaign from a fired police officer; strategized about defeating the Rockland Sheriff in his re-election bid; and targeted a town justice.

RELATED:

• Clarkstown Police Sgt. Sues Town Officials: News Report
• Sullivan Denies Charges
• More Charges Filed Against Clarkstown Police Chief
• Details Emerge About Rockland Strategic Intelligence Unit

PHOTO/ Clarkstown Police Department Annual Report: Strategic Intelligence Unit