Commissioner says NYPD has plenty of oversight

New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly says his department does not need more oversight.

Kelly challenged city council members who want to create an inspector general to regulate the department's surveillance of Muslims. They went head-to-head at a budget hearing on Thursday that sometimes got heated.

The Associated Press has detailed the surveillance program in a series of articles. It showed that undercover police officers eavesdropped in cafes and grocery stores, infiltrated Muslim student groups and monitored the Internet activity of people as far away as Buffalo, N.Y.

But Kelly said the police department has its own internal affairs office, plus several prosecutors constantly looking over its shoulder. He said the department also follows a set of surveillance guidelines agreed upon in 2003 as part of a court settlement.