"New York City police officials on Wednesday dropped a request to submit secret evidence to a federal court in their fight to loosen federal limits on police surveillance of political organizations. Groups that support the surveillance restrictions -- which require the NYPD to have suspicion of criminal activity before monitoring political groups -- say the request to submit secret evidence was unprecedented for a local police force."

"The department had contended that the secret evidence -- testimony from David Cohen, deputy commissioner of intelligence -- would help prove that officers investigating terrorism can no longer afford to wait for signs of criminal activity before monitoring political groups."

"Franklin Siegel, a professor at City University of New York School of Law and an attorney for the plaintiffs, said the request to submit secret evidence to help decide the merits of a case was unparalleled in the context of local, rather than federal, law enforcement in the United States. "There are no state precedents," he said."