The New York Police Department is increasing its monitoring of social media sites and the Internet in an attempt to ferret out potential lone-wolf terrorists who self-radicalize their views through online media. The immediate impetus for the move was a hatchet attack by a man on four officers last month.

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NYPD Operation Sentry program meetings on Friday between New York, London and Los Angeles police commanders led to the decision, according to NYPD Commissioner William Bratton. He said the department had to broaden its social media program significantly to track down young people who were being drawn to radical terrorist movements online.

Disaffected youth were looking for stimulating sites "to make up for whatever deficits they have in their lives," Bratton said, "in terms of trying to find meaning or a cause."

Social media surveillance, however, has its critics. Some say much of the online talk is harmless or not meant seriously. Questions also exist about how much online speech is protected by law and how it can be used in criminal investigations.

Several recent attacks on law enforcement officers and lawful institutions in the last month by self-radicalized Westerners have alarmed homeland security and local officials.

Zale Thompson, 32 allegedly staged the October hatchet attack on four New York officers before being shot and killed. Police said he was a "self-radicalized convert to Islam" engaged in a terrorist act.

The hatchet attack took place the day following a vehicular attack that killed a Canadian soldier in Ottawa, which was also considered the work of a lone-wolf terrorist. Another self-radicalized Muslim convert attacked the Canadian Parliament building and killed a soldier.

Operation Sentry began in 2006 as a way to share international intelligence concerning terrorist plots. The program brings together more than 150 law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and the world. Bratton's comments after the meeting reflected law enforcement's increasing use of social media surveillance to catch threats and criminals.

TagsNYPD, surveillance, self-radicalized, web, police, homeland security