Are our Law Enforcement Officers Trained to Fear Islam?

I highly recommend this article in the Washington Monthly - How We Train Our Cops to Fear Islam, by Meg Stalcup and Joshua Craze. The article outlines the anti-Islam slant that many counterterrorism instructors are teaching to American law enforcement officers.

One particularly troubling part of the article says:

America today is too politically correct to acknowledge the reality of Islamic fanaticism, [instructor Sam] Kharoba said. “Would Islam be tolerated if everyone knew its true message?” he asked the class. “From a Muslim perspective, do you want non-Muslims to know the truth about Islam?”

“No!” came the audience reply.

“So what do Muslims do?” Kharoba demanded.

“Lie!”

Kharoba strode forward to the front of the room, his voice slower now, more measured. “Islam is a highly violent radical religion that mandates that all of the earth must be Muslim.” 

To be honest, I was not surprised when I read this article. I have been training the law enforcement community for a number of years and I am often asked some really troubling questions about Muslims, particularly how to tell the radical Muslim from the moderate. The problem is, the answer just isn’t cut and dry. 

Over the years I have tailored my trainings to confront this issue – discussing the very reason that our officers cannot afford to profile. Nearly half of the individuals charged with Islamic-related terror offenses in the U.S. since 9/11 were born in America. These defendants are White, Black, Hispanic, Asian and Arab. Many are born Muslim, while others are Muslim converts, and a few aren’t Muslim at all. Some of these individuals have PhDs while others are high school dropouts, and occupations range from doctors, lawyers and jazz musicians to taxi drivers and pizza deliverymen. Americans motivated by a radical interpretation of Islam are a melting pot of different races, religions and ethnicities.

While Stalcup and Craze indicate that local law enforcement officials would serve the community better if they were trained to focus on dealing with terrorist incidents once they occur, I believe it is equally important to utilize their expertise of the communities they police. Given the tools to understand all aspects of radical Islamism – not the religion of Islam, but those who interpret the religion in a radical way – local law enforcement can be the most valuable resource we have to make accurate assessments and provide intelligence to federal authorities. 

For more information about my technique during law enforcement trainings, contact me.