In late December 2018, New York residents spotted a white and blue “Muslim Community Patrol” (MCP) vehicle that looks just like an official NYPD vehicle. Yet in a statement on Wednesday, the NYPD disavowed any link to the Muslim Community Patrol. Any attempts to enforce Sharia (Islamic law) would NOT be sanctioned by the police.

PJ Media “This is not an NYPD vehicle,” Sergeant Jessica McRorie told PJ Media. “The NYPD did not outfit or label this vehicle. This group is not officially sanctioned by the NYPD and they are subject to the law.”

The Muslim patrol car — a white Ford Taurus with the MCP insignia nearly identical to those of an NYPD patrol car with the words “Muslim Community Patrol” where an official police vehicle would read “Courtesy Professionalism Respect” — cruising on Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge, a local community with a growing Muslim population.

Asian* Safety Patrol (BASP) launched in 2014, it had close ties to the police department. “They are our eyes and ears,” NYPD Deputy Inspector James Grant, who helped start the program, When the BrooklynSafety Patrol (BASP) launched in 2014, it had close ties to the police department. “They are our eyes and ears,” NYPD Deputy Inspector James Grant, who helped start the program, told the Post in 2014 (*Asian as in Chinese/Korean/Japanese, NOT Pakistani and other South Asian Muslims as they are called in the UK)

The group received civilian-observation-patrol training from the NYPD, as did the volunteer Jewish watch group Shomrim. These community groups work as part of “broken windows” policing, targeting small-time crimes in order to prevent more serious ones. The BASP and Shomrin patrols use cars with an official NYPD logo ( as you can see below), unlike the Muslim Community Patrol cars.

The Muslim Patrol Cars deceptively are using a logo similar to the NYPD logo.

Given this background, the NYPD’s full-throated insistence that there is no link between the Big Apple’s police and the MCP suggests that the Islamic group does not enjoy the same status and training as Shomrim or BASP.

If the Muslim Community Patrol is off-book and does not coordinate with the NYPD, it may apply specific readings of Sharia (Islamic law) in its community monitoring. Since some forms of Sharia advocate honor killings, child brides, and other abuses, they may directly violate some American or New York City laws.