I n 2007, the New York Police Department released a lengthy report on the “homegrown” terrorist threat. The widely publicized tome sparked much controversy. The U.S. Senate’s Homeland Security Committee endorsed it, and police departments around the country continue to rely on its findings. But Muslim and civil liberties groups objected to its strong implications linking religious behavior and terrorism, and to its suggestion that New York is a hotbed of Muslim terrorism.
Now, the NYPD has issued a welcome revision of the report—very, very quietly. It added a “Statement of Clarification” that backs away from some of the report’s most troubling conclusions. New York Police Department Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly deserves credit for taking this step. But the department should do much more to clear up the misperceptions created by its handiwork.
