Voiceover: 00.00 This is the Beat - a podcast series that keeps you in the know about the latest community policing topics facing our nation Gil Moore: 00.09 Hello and welcome to an Office of Community Oriented Policing Service’s podcast on issues of importance in building trust between law enforcement and Arab- and Muslim-American communities. There are approximately 3.5 million people in America who identify themselves as being of Arab ancestry, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, and some estimates put today’s total at a population of 4 million. Many of these Americans trace their roots back to 1875 in the United States, and of course there are additional, more recent immigrants. Forty-two percent of the respondents to the Census indicated that they were Catholic, 23 percent Eastern Orthodox, 23 percent Muslim, and 12 percent Protestant. Today we have with us Abed Ayoub, who is the legal director of the Arab-American Anti- Defamation Committee, and he’s here to help us understand how law enforcement can do a better job of relating and developing mutual trust and respect with Arab and Muslim-American communities.Welcome, Abed. AbedAyoub: 01.11 Thank you. Moore: 01.13 Abed, just a really quick question: We’ve come a long way since 9/11, but one thing that we do definitely see, as recently as a 2008 Vera Institute study, is that there is still a great deal of concern in the Arab and Muslim community about law enforcement. In fact, I think that study indicates that many of the respondents were more afraid of law enforcement than they were of violence and hate crimes directed toward them,despite the fact that hate crimes were on the rise. How can you explain that? Ayoub: 01.44 Unfortunately, those statistics are true, and that is the sentiment we have around the community. My one explanation for that would be the lack of communication and education between the two parties. We do have areas of dialogue in cities where dialogue works and education works, such as Detroit and Los Angeles. But in other areas of the country, we need to enhance the relationship. We need to open the lines of dialogue and we need to get a mutual understanding for the community of what law enforcement does, and law enforcement needs to develop an understanding of what the community is about. So I think once we have these education portals and these lines of communication and dialogue open, there will be a better understanding between both sides and less fear on the community side. Moore: 02.25 Tell us a little bit about the Arab-American Anti-Defamation Committee. What does ADC do, and how have you worked with law enforcement over years to create that ideal that you just described? Ayoub: 02.36 ADC is the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee—is the country’s largest and oldest Arab-American civil rights organization. We were founded in 1980 by a former U.S. senator to combat racism and discrimination, hate crimes. We have been working with law enforcement for nearly 30 years now. After 2001, we developed a law enforcement outreach program, LEOP, which has since evolved. And we train law enforcement officers—law enforcement agencies across the country, both federal and local level—we provide the basic information needed to know the sensitivities of a community, how to address a community, and how to get a better understanding of what’s going to work and what’s not going to work in the community. So the LEOP training really is an excellent model of what an organization can do and what a community can do to develop trust with law enforcement. Moore: 03.30 Let’s drill down just alittle bit, if you may. I’ve heard a lot of things about what can be effective in helping law enforcement develop relationships—meaningful relationships—with Arab and Muslim-American communities. Specifically, if I am a law enforcement officer or a police chief and I’m interesting in breaking down barriers, how would I go about doing that? Ayoub: 03.51 The number one thing to do would be to talk to the community. Find venues, find events. Find places you can go, whether it’s a mosque or a church, and begin speaking with the community. Open lines of dialogue. That is the number one tool that’s going to be used. And also to develop relationships with community leaders, as we have indicated in our program—who the community leaders are—to pinpoint one or two key community personnel and begin speaking with them, and open that dialogue with the community. Listen to their concerns. And not only concerns on national security, but community concerns as a whole. The Arab-American community, the Muslim-American community are facing the same issues that the rest of America is facing, and it’s important to show what the services are and how the law enforcement could benefit, could help the community. Moore: 04.41 Would it be appropriate for me as a law enforcement official to expect the community’s support and to be receptive to the efforts of my department? Should I expect them maybe to provide interpretation or translation services so we could develop materials in appropriate Arabic languages or somebody to serve as really an interpreter? Would that be helpful? Ayoub: 05.04 I think it is very helpful. I think you can also—you should expect the support of the community. The community wants to work with law enforcement. The key is to put it out there, what the law enforcement agency is offering, and to put the correct information out there. Oftentimes we find it humorous, but almost all law enforcement is considered FBI. It could be local police; it could be ICE. Anybody that begins speaking with a community member, if the community member is not educated on who this agency is, they’ll immediately say FBI. So the idea is to identify yourself, what your agency does, and then approach them with what your needs are, and then you’ll wholeheartedly expect 100 percent support from the community. Moore: 05.45 One last question. Cultural competency 101: What day is the day of worship in the Muslim-American community? What kinds of things should I expect or anticipate or be mindful of in terms of working with the Arab and Muslim-American communities? Ayoub: 06.02 Very good question. The holiest day in the Muslim religion is Friday, so you could typically expect busy days at the mosque on Friday, particularly for Friday prayer, the jumu’ah prayer. You can also understand about the community that it is a very open community. They’re very nice, very humble individuals, and there is a strong tie to family roots and to openness, so you will always be welcome into a home. You will always be offered food. You will always be offered tea. Reject it one or two times, but ultimately you’re going to have to drink some tea or eat some of the food or else it’s going to be considered offensive. And talk in the community in a manner of respect, and be very straightforward with what you’re offering and what you’re looking for. If there comes an issue which the community seeks assistance with, and if you know you cannot help, then tell them, “No, I cannot help, and here’s why.” Don’t drag out the matter. And I think just being honest, just overall being honest with the community members is very important. But I think there’s a lot of information out there that’s wrong; a lot of information about the community that’s floating around that needs to be rectified. And I think reaching to organizations such as ADC, we can direct you on the right path to put the correct information out there and give you the material that you would need. Moore: 07.20 Abed, we have just a few seconds left, and I’d like to ask you how we could get in touch with you if we were interested in receiving law enforcement training or consultant services from ADC. Ayoub: 07.32 You can email me directly at aayoub@ADC.org—and I’ll definitely be happy to help—or you can call me at 202-244-2990. Moore: 07.46 Thank you. Our guest is Abed Ayoub. He is the legal director for the Arab- American Anti-Discrimination Committee, and we thank you for listening to this COPS Office podcast. Voiceover: 08.00 The Beat was brought to you by the United States Department of Justice COPS Office. The COPS Office helps to keep our nation's communities safe by giving grants to law enforcement agencies, developing community policing publications, developing partnerships and solving problems.