And While The City Lays Off Educators . . .

The NYPD Counter-Terrorism Unit, roughly modeled on television’s 24 and, well, kind of weird, is now under the microscope:

[An AP report] says the program to infiltrate Muslim communities was started by CIA veteran David Cohen, who was tapped in 2002 by Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who thought 9/11 proved the NYPD couldn’t rely on the feds to protect the city from terrorists.

Cohen created a mini-CIA inside the NYPD, with spies and analysts and an international scope.

The NYPD has a big advantage over the CIA: a diverse pool of officers who could pass in any community in the city.

Undercover officers called “rakers” went to hang out in bookstores, hookah bars and cafes, the AP said — an allegation the NYPD fiercely denied.

After lawyers in the department said it might appear that police were building dossiers on innocent people, the cops began regularly shredding documents discussing “rakers,” the story said.

Earlier: NYPD CTU, Now More Than Ever; And NYPD CTU — Just So We’re Clear, This Totally Doesn’t Count As A “Foiled Terrorist Plot”; Talk Of Budget Cuts Leads To Inevitable NYPD CTU Puff Piece.