In late December 2018, New York residents spotted a white and blue “Muslim Community Patrol” (MCP) vehicle that looks like an official NYPD vehicle. Yet in a statement to PJ Media 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.

“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 New York Post reported on the Muslim Community Patrol vehicle on Christmas Eve last year. The Muslim Community Patrol joined the Jewish population’s Shomrim and the Brooklyn Asian Safety Patrol, longstanding religious and racial community groups that provide security for local minorities.

The Post found the 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.

According to state records, the Muslim Community Patrol was incorporated in November 2018. The Post‘s calls to the MCP went unanswered.

Muslim #Patrol Car has been

spotted in Brooklyn New York pic.twitter.com/EcrohZkNZq — AlwaysActions (@AlwaysActions) December 29, 2018

When the Brooklyn 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, told the Post in 2014. The group received civilian-observation-patrol training from the NYPD, as well as support from the volunteer Jewish watch group Shomrim.

The BASP launched with a team of 15 Asian-American residents, walkie-talkies, uniforms, and two NYPD-style patrol cars. Its members — like those of Shomrim — do not have the authority to stop and detain people, but they call 911 if they witness a crime or spot someone acting suspiciously. NYPD officers will then come and stop, question, and frisk people if warranted.

These community groups work as part of “broken windows” policing, targeting small-time crimes in order to prevent more serious ones.

The BASP uses cars with an official NYPD logo, unlike the Muslim Community Patrol cars.

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.

Sergeant McRorie’s statement that the MCP is “subject to the law” should serve as a reminder that if this new Islamic force attempts to enforce such harsh versions of Sharia on citizens, authorities will respond. Any “creeping Sharia” that violates local, state, or federal law will not be tolerated.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.