Mayor Bloomberg said that the New York Police Department had a duty to "keep this country safe" after the force was criticised for mounting surveillance operations beyond the city's borders, even compiling dossiers on Muslims in other states.
Universities including the prestigious Yale and Columbia have protested about the operations, which included officers tailing a group of students on a white water rafting trip.
Muslim residents in the neighbouring state of New Jersey, and the Long Island counties of Nassau and Suffolk, where undercover operations were carried out, have also questioned why the NYPD was investigating outside of the city limits.
But Mayor Bloomberg defended the police, saying: "We have to keep this country safe.
"The police department goes where there are allegations. That's what you'd expect them to do. That's what you'd want them to do. Remind yourself when you turn out the light tonight." Read on and comment » | Rosa Prince, New York | Wednesday, February 22, 2012
