The inaugural forum took place at Masjid Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, which was represented by Dafer Dakhil.
The forum, which came in response to the controversy over last November’s
proposed LAPD "mapping" of the city’s Muslim community, seeks to re-establish trust and dialogue between Los Angeles area Muslims and the police department. The plan was abandoned after strong opposition from Muslim and civil rights groups over the possibility of profiling and other concerns.
"We welcome the LAPD’s efforts to reach out to the Los Angeles Muslim community to rebuild trust, cooperation and understanding," said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Greater Los Angeles-area Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "It is important for American Muslims to continue to be engaged in their local communities in order to foster partnerships and ensure that they are treated as equal citizens."
Dakhil commented on how a positive step such as the forum came out from the mapping controversy.
The Chief’s Muslim Community Forum is co-chaired by LAPD Deputy Chief Mike Downing. The co-chairs for the community are Imam Abdul Karim Hasan, a member of the executive board of the Shura Council of Southern California, and Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council.
The co-chairs will be responsible for incorporating input from the community to develop agendas in future meetings of the forum. Bratton and Downing told the group that community input is critical for the dialogue to succeed.
"Community engagement is critical to effective law enforcement," Downing said.
He added that understanding the Muslim community’s concerns continues to be a priority for him.
Dr. Maher Hathout, Senior Advisor to MPAC, noted that engagement with law enforcement increased only after 9/11, but underscored the fact that "Muslims have accepted these realities, as long as they are treated as partners not suspects."
Arif Alikhan, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, stressed the constraints applied on law enforcement to guarantee adherence to civil liberties and sacrifices made by police officers in their commitment to protect the public. Recently, LAPD officer Randy Simmons was slain. The Muslim representatives asked for a moment of silence in honor of Simmons.
Sayyid Moustafa al-Qazwini of the Islamic Educational Center of Orange County stressed the need for educating law enforcement about Islam and Muslims. Joint efforts for educating LAPD and the Muslim community about one another will be a key objective along with collaborative efforts for enhancing public safety.
The community co-chairs stressed the need for inclusion of all Muslim organizations committed to civic engagement.
"It is not merely important but imperative," said Shakeel Syed, Executive Director of the Shura Council of Southern California. "Had the LAPD been inclusive, this mapping idea would not have been born."
Syed said he is cautiously optimistic that the LAPD has realized they need to know and learn more about the diverse Muslim community.
"Ideally, I’d hope the LAPD begins to see Muslims as the most law abiding citizens of Los Angeles, rather than watching them from the prism of terrorism," he said.
The group will meet quarterly. In addition to the Muslim Community Forum, CAIR and Southern California Muslims have previously initiated and participated in other partnerships with law enforcement. These include the Multi-Cultural Advisory Committee (with the FBI Los Angeles bureau), Muslim American Homeland Security Congress (with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department), and DHS Roundtable (with the Department of Homeland Security).
