--- title: NYPD Terrorism Chief Slams Ted Cruz’s Muslim Patrol Plan description: A top counterterrorism official for the NYPD criticized Ted Cruz’s call for increased police presence in Muslim neighborhoods in the country canonical: https://time.com/4273226/nypd-ted-cruz-muslims/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-27T20:34:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:44:51.684Z article:section: Politics og:title: NYPD Counterterrorism Chief Slams Ted Cruz’s Plan to Patrol Muslim Areas og:description: "That's not the direction American policing should be taking in a democracy." og:url: https://time.com/4273226/nypd-ted-cruz-muslims/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16b6df916469d3c3/69888cb2f887dc6182e9538a/john-miller-nypd.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: &lt;&gt; on January 7, 2015 in New York City. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NYPD Counterterrorism Chief Slams Ted Cruz’s Plan to Patrol Muslim Areas twitter:description: "That's not the direction American policing should be taking in a democracy." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16b6df916469d3c3/69888cb2f887dc6182e9538a/john-miller-nypd.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # NYPD Counterterrorism Chief Slams Ted Cruz’s Plan to Patrol Muslim Areas > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Mar 27, 2016 8:34 PM UTC  John Miller, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism, is pictured here on Jan. 7, 2015, in New York City John Miller, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism, is pictured here on Jan. 7, 2015, in New York CitySpencer Platt—Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Mar 27, 2016 8:34 PM UTC A top NYPD counterterrorism official on Sunday [criticized Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz’s call for increased police presence in Muslim neighborhoods](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/national-security-experts-cast-doubt-on-ted-cruzs-muslim-surveillance-plan/) in the country. John Miller, the New York City Police Department’s deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism, blasted the Texas Senator for his suggestion that the federal government should “[empower law enforcement to patrol](http://time.com/4269312/brussels-attacks-president-obama-ted-cruz-muslims/) and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized” following the deadly [Brussels terrorist attacks](http://time.com/4271656/brussels-attacks-arrests-raids/). Miller said the idea was birthed out of fear. “When you have people campaigning through fear and using that as leverage, and then giving advice to police to be the cudgel of that fear, that’s not the direction American policing should be taking in a democracy,” Miller said on CBS’s _Face the Nation_. “We’re the proudest country on the planet and that’s because we have been a leader on freedom and human rights and everything else.” “I think in our history if there are moments of shame it would be Japanese internment, the Red Scare and McCarthyism, torture after 9/11 — these are things that on reflection, through history, the American people have rejected,” he added. 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