“sensitivity training,” if that’s what it is, still has a way to go
We have touched upon LE relations with the American-Muslim communities before, but this is a classic and refers to a current case in Miami:
Quote:
In this instance, however, federal authorities showed greater sensitivity in their approach than they have in the past.
Knowing the need to build trust between lawmen and Muslims, U.S. Attorney Wilfredo Ferrer and John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Miami Office, made it a point to say that the allegations against a few Muslims must not taint the entire community....But arresting the imam while he was in the mosque leading daily prayers won’t deepen the bonds of trust. Imam Khan lived in a modest house around the corner and there is no indication he planned to flee.
No one advocates treating terrorist sympathizers with kid gloves, but we daresay interrupting Sunday church services to arrest a pedophile clergyman instead of waiting until after the service wouldn’t sit well with Christian congregations. Apparently, the “sensitivity training,” if that’s what it is, still has a way to go.
Link:http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/1...#ixzz1Mj1q7YsW
Please note in the UK we took time to learn too and one colleague vividly recalls being on TV after forcing entry to a small mosque, to detain suspected illegal immigrants IIRC.
Post 152 update: “sensitivity training,” if that’s what it is, still has a way to go
An update on a previous post, which was critical of a FBI arrest of an Imam and another in a mosque. Taken from a NPR article:
Quote:
What makes these particular arrests unusual is the way the local Muslim community reacted to them: The arrests didn't spark outrage or demonstrations. Instead, the way they were handled is being lauded as a model for the way law enforcement and communities should work together.
Link:http://www.npr.org/2011/07/19/137767...utreach-effort
more on FBI training and Islam
New Evidence of Anti-Islam Bias Underscores Deep Challenges for FBI’s Reform Pledge
By Spencer Ackerman
Wired Danger Room, 23 September 2011
Quote:
Following months of denials, the FBI is now promising a “comprehensive review of all training and reference materials” after Danger Room revealed a series of Bureau presentations that tarred average Muslims as “radical” and “violent.”
But untangling the Islamophobic thread woven into the FBI’s counterterrorism training culture won’t be easy. In addition to inflammatory seminars which likened Islam to the Death Star and Mohammed to a “cult leader,” Danger Room has obtained more material showing just how wide the anti-Islam meme has spread throughout the Bureau.
The FBI library at Quantico currently stacks books from authors who claim that “Islam and democracy are totally incompatible.” The Bureau’s private intranet recently featured presentations that claimed to demonstrate the “inherently violent nature of Islam,” according to multiple sources. Earlier this year, the Bureau’s Washington Field Office welcomed a speaker who claimed Islamic law prevents Muslims from being truly loyal Americans. And as recently as last week, the online orientation material for the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces included claims that Sunni Islam seeks “domination of the world,” according to a law enforcement source.
“I don’t think anyone with half a brain would paint 1.2 billion people of any ethnic or religious persuasion with a single brushstroke,” Mike Rolince, an FBI counterterrorism veteran who started Boston’s JTTF, tells Danger Room. “Who did they run that curriculum by — either an internal or outside expert — to get some balance?”
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