The cover story in this week’s Village Voice begins: ”THE NYPD WANTS TO WATCH YOU: Nation’s largest law enforcement agency vies for total spying power.”

It continues, “The enemy could be anywhere. So the authorities say they must look everywhere. Since the September 11 terrorist attacks a vast network of government agencies, from federal to local, has amassed extraordinary powers to inspect what ordinary Americans say, do, and believe in the course of their daily lives.

“As the nation’s largest law enforcement agency-nearly twice the size of the Federal Bureau of Investigation-the New York City Police Department could be the biggest Big Brother of all. Yet it faces quite a stumbling block. A long-standing federal order, imposed after a landmark lawsuit revealed rampant surveillance abuses of political activists, prevents the NYPD from spying on whomever it wants.

“Now the NYPD is fighting to gut the order and get its old powers back.”

Guest:

• Chisun Lee, contributing editor at the Village Voice and the author of this week’s cover story “The NYPD Wants to Watch You: Nation’s Largest Enforcement Agency Vies for Total Spying Power”

Related link:

• The NYPD Wants to Watch You: Nation’s Largest Law Enforcement Agency Vies for Total Spying Power