Research for Practice

Policing in Arab-American Communities After September 11 

U.S. Department of Justice 

Office of Justice Programs 

JUL. 08 

National Institute of Justice 

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Acknowledgments 

This publication is based 

on “Law Enforcement 

and Arab American 

Community Relations 

After September 11, 

2001: Engagement in a 

Time of Uncertainty,” final 

report to the National 

Institute of Justice, 

NCJ 214607, 

available online at 

http://www.vera.org/ 

publication_pdf/ 

353_636.pdf. 

Policing in Arab-American Communities 

After September 11 

Findings and conclusions of the research reported here are those of the 

authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the 

U.S. Department of Justice. 

This research was supported by the National Institute of Justice under contract 

number 2003-IJ-CX-1020. 

NCJ 221706 
R ESEARCH FOR PRACTICE / JUL. 08 

ABOUT THIS REPORT
 

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, changed 

the face of law enforcement 

in the United States. They 

also had a great impact on 

Arab-American communities. 

This study by the Vera Institute of Justice examines how 

the changes have affected 

policing in Arab-American 

neighborhoods. 

What did the 

researchers find? 

Many Arab-Americans were 

troubled by increased government scrutiny of their communities following the 

terrorist attacks. Indeed, 

some Arab-American communities said they were 

more afraid of law enforcement agencies — especially 

federal law enforcement 

agencies — than they were 

of acts of hate or violence, 

despite an increase in hate 

crimes. They specifically cited 

fears about immigration 

enforcement, surveillance and 

racial profiling. 

Four significant obstacles to 

improved relations between 

police and Arab-American 

communities emerged: 

■	 Distrust between ArabAmerican communities 

and law enforcement. 

■	 Lack of cultural awareness 

among law enforcement 

officers. 

■ Language barriers. 

■	 Concerns about immigration status and fear of 

deportation. 

The study also revealed some 

promising practices for 

addressing these obstacles. 

Although this study focused 

on Arab-Americans, many of 

the best practices are consistent with general principles 

of community policing. The 

researchers believe they will 

be useful for improving relations between law enforcement and a wide range of 

communities, especially geographically concentrated 

immigrant communities. A 

more detailed report is available from the Vera Institute of 

Justice.1 

ii 
POLICING IN ARAB-AMERICAN COMMUNITIES 

Nicole J. Henderson, Christopher W. Ortiz, Naomi F. Sugie 

and Joel Miller 

Policing in Arab-American 

Communities After September 11 

About the Authors 

Nicole J. Henderson, 

Christopher W. Ortiz and 

Naomi F. Sugie were with 

the Vera Institute of Justice 

when this research was 

conducted. Joel Miller is 

currently with the Vera 

Institute of Justice. 

For the past 20 years, local 

police agencies have worked 

to build stronger ties with the 

communities they serve. 

These “community policing” 

efforts have increased public 

safety and security as 

partnerships between law 

enforcement agencies and 

community groups have 

been effective at identifying 

and defusing community 

disputes. 

However, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have led to a host 

of new concerns about public 

safety. Communities across 

the nation — from small 

towns to sprawling cities — 

are wrestling with security 

issues that did not exist a 

decade ago. These issues are 

especially complex for communities with significant 

Arab-American populations. 

After Sept. 11, law enforcement agencies on both the 

local and federal levels experienced great pressure to prevent further attacks. Some 

researchers and law enforcement officials suggested that 

local law enforcement agencies should play a greater 

role in intelligence-gathering 

and immigration enforcement. In addition, the FBI 

began to stress counterterrorism efforts, with Joint Terrorism Task Forces working in 

concert with local law enforcement agencies. Often, 

these efforts focused on 

Arab-American communities. 

At the same time, local law 

enforcement agencies were 

called on to protect the ArabAmerican community. After 

the attacks, some people of 

Arab descent said they experienced increased levels of 

harassment, ranging from 

workplace discrimination to 

verbal abuse and vandalism 

to severe hate crimes such 

as assault and homicide. To 

ensure the safety of ArabAmericans, some local law 

enforcement agencies felt it 

necessary to step up their 

outreach efforts. 

Finally, some Arab-Americans 

and law enforcement officers 

said that public suspicion of 

Arab-Americans had led to an 

increase in false reporting. As 

one FBI special agent said, 

“The general public calls in 

1 
R ESEARCH FOR PRACTICE / JUL. 08 

STUDY METHODS 

The study was conducted in 16 sites across the country, 

each of which is home to a geographically concentrated 

Arab-American community. For each site, researchers did 

telephone interviews with people from three groups: local 

law enforcement officers, FBI agents assigned to local 

field offices, and members of the Arab-American community. Researchers then held focus group discussions and 

in-person interviews at four sites. 

What Were the Study’s Limitations? 

This study focused on Arab-American communities that 

are concentrated in specific regions, and the law enforcement agencies that serve them. However, such concentrated communities are not necessarily representative of 

the Arab-American population as a whole. In addition, 

although researchers interviewed FBI agents from local 

field offices at each site, they did not interview agents 

from other federal law enforcement agencies, such as 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the U.S. Attorney’s Offices. 

some ridiculous stuff — it’s 

really guilt by being Muslim.” 

Because officers have to look 

into all reports, false reporting 

can be a significant strain on 

law enforcement agencies. 

Arab-American communities 

have been deeply affected by 

the events of Sept. 11 in other 

ways. Before the attacks, 

many Arab-Americans were 

well assimilated into the 

American mainstream.2 But 

after Sept. 11, some members 

of Arab-American communities came to believe that many 

of their fellow citizens — not 

to mention some in the 

media and government — 

regarded them with suspicion. 

Although Arab-Americans 

report a fair amount of goodwill towards local law enforcement agencies, some 

Arab-Americans said these 

developments have strained 

relations between their communities and those agencies. 

Also, some members of ArabAmerican communities said 

they fear federal policies and 

practices more than violence. 

Researchers from the Vera 

Institute of Justice, examining how post-Sept. 11 law 

enforcement changes have 

affected policing in ArabAmerican neighborhoods 

(see ”Study Methods“), identified four primary and interrelated obstacles to improved 

relations between law 

enforcement and the ArabAmerican community: 

■	 Distrust between ArabAmerican communities and 

law enforcement. 

■ Lack of cultural awareness. 

■ Language barriers. 

■	 Concerns about immigration status and fear of 

deportation. 

Fortunately, many law 

enforcement officials and 

2 
POLICING IN ARAB-AMERICAN COMMUNITIES 

community leaders generally 

agree on how to address 

these obstacles. 

Distrust 

Distrust between ArabAmerican communities and 

law enforcement was by far 

the most commonly cited 

barrier to improved relations. 

Although most respondents 

stressed distrust of law 

enforcement by the local 

Arab-American community, a 

few officers mentioned that 

the distrust is reciprocal. 

Although much of the distrust in Arab-American communities stems from 

post-Sept. 11 developments, 

not all of it does. Recent 

immigrants often feel uncomfortable about approaching 

law enforcement.3 This is 

especially true of immigrants 

from countries with brutal 

governments or widespread 

police corruption. As one 

local business leader explained, “[Many] Arabs 

come from [countries with] 

very authoritarian, dictatorial 

regimes. The police are run 

by the state. So from [their] 

perspective, [approaching law 

enforcement] is bad news.” 

The surveys suggest a number of practices that can help: 

Begin or improve communication. Reaching out to the 

local community is the key to 

building trust. As one sergeant 

in the public affairs division of 

a department with an active 

outreach program noted, 

“Having a good relationship 

with the community helps 

patrol officers do their jobs.” 

In setting up an outreach 

effort, law enforcement agencies will want to consider the 

following points: 

■	 Reach out in person. Several people stressed the 

importance of face-to-face 

meetings as opposed to 

phone or e-mail contact. 

One community leader 

pointed out that “fliers 

aren’t enough,” while 

another explained that the 

Arab-American community 

has a strong “oral culture.” 

Outreach efforts were 

most successful when they 

used a three-pronged 

approach: first send a letter, 

then make a phone call and 

finally follow up with a personal visit. 

■	 Meet with the community 

regularly. Regular contact 

between the community 

and law enforcement agencies is important, and helps 

break down misconceptions 

and build trust. At one site, 

a potentially volatile instance 

3 
R ESEARCH FOR PRACTICE / JUL. 08 

of miscommunication was 

resolved by discussions in 

a series of regularly scheduled community forums. 

■	 Use community contacts 

to set up meetings. When 

arranging meetings, it can 

help to have a member of 

the Arab-American community set up the contact: 

“A non-Arab who invites 

[members of the ArabAmerican] community to 

dinner or to a function will 

not have the same turnout 

as if someone from the 

Arab-American community 

invites them on [law 

enforcement’s] behalf.” 

■	 Hold meetings in the 

community as opposed to 

the precinct headquarters. 

This is an effective way to 

address the fear and hesitation that community 

members may feel about 

contacting the police. 

■	 Include patrol officers 

in community meetings. 

Patrol officers said that 

community meetings are 

important. However, some 

felt that they should play a 

larger role in these events. 

One patrol officer described 

a meeting in which he and 

his colleagues “were sent 

in at the beginning to show 

our faces and meet and 

greet, but when the meeting started they sent us on 

our way.” Including patrol 

officers in community meetings gives them a stake in 

building stronger relations 

between law enforcement 

and the community. 

■ Set up an open-door policy. 

At one site, the chief of 

police held office hours for 

community members once 

a week. He said this policy 

allowed him to engage 

community members in 

“one-on-one dialogue.” 

■	 Schedule community meetings for suitable times. 

Often, certain times — 

such as Friday prayer for 

Arab-Muslim communities 

— are not suitable for community meetings. 

Create a police-community 

liaison position. By registering complaints, giving advice 

or just meeting with community members, liaison officers 

can address potential problems before they intensify 

and require the intervention 

of patrol officers. The status 

of liaison officers varies from 

one location to another. 

Some are appointed by the 

chief of police or another 

administrator, while others 

assume the role on their own 

initiative and work in a more 

4 
POLICING IN ARAB-AMERICAN COMMUNITIES 

informal capacity. In creating 

a liaison position, agencies 

will want to consider the following points: 

■	 Get institutional support 

and backing of the police 

chief. Liaison officers who 

report directly to the police 

chief and enjoy the institutional support of the 

department are the most 

effective in building trust 

between law enforcement 

and the Arab-American 

community. Because these 

officers are freed from their 

regular duties, they can 

focus all of their time and 

energy on community 

concerns. 

■	 Promote visibility and 

accessibility. A successful 

liaison officer is accessible 

to the community. One 

effective liaison officer gave 

out his cell phone number, 

home number and e-mail 

address, and set up a Web 

site where the community 

could learn about the police 

department and send questions to the department. 

Holding office hours in the 

community is another way 

to increase accessibility. 

■	 Foster a connection to the 

community. The liaison officer needs to be culturally 

competent. Most of the 

liaison officers interviewed 

for this study either spoke 

Arabic or were of Arab 

descent. 

Recruit within ArabAmerican communities. 

Officers and community 

members agreed that having 

more Arab-Americans on the 

police force would help overcome fear of law enforcement. In jurisdictions with 

little precedent for cooperation between law enforcement and the community, 

recruitment efforts are likely 

to be greeted with suspicion. 

“I’ve seen ads for officer 

recruitment in our local Arabic 

newspapers,” one community 

member told researchers. 

“Why didn’t they want to 

recruit us before?” 

The following measures are 

likely to boost recruitment 

among Arab-Americans: 

■ Focus on young people. 

Because young people are 

less likely to have had negative experiences with law 

enforcement, reaching out 

to them by having officers 

work in schools can help 

break down barriers. 

■	 Translate recruiting materials 

into Arabic. At one site, the 

police department translated recruiting materials into 

5 
R ESEARCH FOR PRACTICE / JUL. 08 

Arabic and gave them out 

at police-community 

forums. 

Be aware that officers may 

face skepticism when they 

first reach out to communities. Cultural training programs, advisory councils, 

regular meetings with the 

community and other outreach efforts all help build 

trust. However, officers 

should be prepared to face 

some skepticism when they 

first reach out to the ArabAmerican community. If their 

commitment is genuine, even 

skeptics can be won over. 

Lack of cultural 

awareness 

Many community leaders 

stressed the need for improved cultural awareness 

among law enforcement personnel. Police officers also 

felt that a deeper knowledge 

of Arab-American culture 

would make it easier to 

respond to calls and mediate 

disputes. 

Setting up cultural awareness 

training and education is one 

promising practice. Law 

enforcement agencies have 

traditionally responded to 

their officers’ changing 

vocational needs by offering 

comprehensive training programs. Such programs are 

well-suited to educating 

officers about Arab-American 

culture. When asked what 

makes a cultural awareness 

program effective, officers 

stressed that it must be both 

practical and relevant to their 

everyday work. In particular, 

officers wanted to learn more 

about the following topics: 

■	 Islam and religious 

practices. 

■ Arab culture. 

■	 Basic Arabic words and 

phrases. 

■	 Cultural considerations 

when questioning 

someone. 

■	 Cultural considerations 

when arresting someone. 

The most successful training 

programs set the following 

goals: 

Collaborate with the community. Leaders from the 

local Arab-American community played a role in developing 

the training programs that 

were most effective. Programs that are developed this 

way are better equipped to 

address a community’s specific needs. Because many 

community leaders are eager 

6 
POLICING IN ARAB-AMERICAN COMMUNITIES 

and willing to teach others 

about Islam and Arab culture, 

they are valuable partners. 

Reach rank-and-file officers. 

Cultural awareness programs 

need to target the patrol 

officers who work with the 

Arab-American community 

regularly. At one site, an officer remarked that relations 

between law enforcement 

administrators and the community were good, but that 

“among the rank and file 

there are serious problems ... 

local police officers do not 

know the community.” 

Bring training sessions into 

the community. In one innovative training program, officers left the classroom to 

visit local Arab-American and 

American Muslim communities. Officers met with community members and visited 

a mosque. 

Language barriers 

Reaching out to those with 

limited knowledge of English 

is important, especially for 

agencies that serve communities with large immigrant populations. Although language 

barriers can significantly 

undermine police-community 

relations, most barriers can 

be effectively broken down 

through simple measures.4 

Community leaders are often 

willing to help out with translation or language training. 

Inviting them to do so 

strengthens relations between 

the local community and law 

enforcement. 

Offer basic language training. For officers working in 

Arab-American neighborhoods, basic language training 

is essential. As one community member explained, “The 

new immigrant hardly speaks 

any English. When they 

encounter an officer, they 

cannot understand them and 

that causes a problem.” 

Encourage officers to learn 

Arabic. Some police departments offer incentives (such 

as compensatory time) for 

officers who enroll in Spanish 

classes. It makes sense to 

do the same for those who 

study Arabic. 

Provide incentives for 

Arabic-speaking officers. In 

police departments across 

the country, Spanish-speaking 

officers receive pay bonuses. 

However, none of the police 

departments under study 

offered bonuses for Arabic 

speakers. 

Translate written materials 

and provide interpreters. 

Having Arabic interpreters at 

community meetings and 

7 
R ESEARCH FOR PRACTICE / JUL. 08 

providing Arabic translations 

of commonly used forms and 

informational pamphlets is 

helpful. 

Concerns about 

immigration status and 

fear of deportation 

Many community leaders 

expressed concern about the 

involvement of local law 

enforcement agencies in 

immigration enforcement. 

They noted that threats of 

deportation or other forms of 

pressure related to immigration status have been used to 

seek information. As a result, 

they said, some members of 

the community hesitate to 

report crimes. 

Survey responses favored 

one practice: set up clear and 

consistent policies. Because 

immigration and counterterrorism enforcement practices 

vary from one police department to another, and even 

from one FBI field office to 

another, many Arab-Americans 

are unclear about the enforcement practices of their local 

police. This lack of clarity can 

significantly undermine a 

department’s ability to build 

strong community ties. As 

one community leader 

explained, “The police need 

to establish ground rules. We 

don’t know what the local 

and federal police will and 

won’t do.” Local police 

departments should carefully 

consider whether to engage 

in immigration enforcement, 

and then communicate their 

policies to the community. 

They should also develop 

policies against racial profiling 

or, if they already have such 

policies, reinforce them. 

What can 

communities do? 

Efforts by law enforcement 

organizations are unlikely to 

succeed without active 

involvement from the community itself. Law enforcement 

agencies and communities 

need to work together. As 

one community leader put it, 

“We have to educate [the 

police] about our culture, and 

they have to educate us about 

[police] culture.” The research 

suggests several activities for 

community leaders who want 

to reach out to local law 

enforcement agencies: 

Start making contacts with 

law enforcement. Community leaders can invite police 

officials to events in the 

community and attend 

precinct or station meetings 

in the neighborhood. 

8 
POLICING IN ARAB-AMERICAN COMMUNITIES 

Offer cultural and linguistic 

support services. Leaders 

can offer to help develop culturally suitable training materials for police officers. They 

can help lead training sessions that focus on cultural 

awareness and offer translation services. 

Help with recruiting efforts. 

Leaders can work with law 

enforcement on recruiting initiatives in their communities. 

Promote community 

awareness about police 

practices. Leaders can take 

part in training sessions the 

police department offers for 

community members. They 

can tell the community about 

such topics as local laws and 

codes, and how and when to 

contact the police. 

Lobby for a liaison position. 

Leaders can let their local 

police department know that 

a liaison officer would help 

build trust, and identify community leaders who might fill 

such a role informally. 

Strengthen community 

organization within and 

across communities. 

Leaders can build community 

solidarity and reach out to 

other communities in their 

area. Law enforcement 

agencies look for strong 

community leaders who are 

easily identifiable. 

Renewed dedication to the 

principles of community 

policing can lead to positive, 

trusting relations between 

law enforcement and the 

Arab-American community — 

even in the current environment of concern about national security. Both groups want 

improved relations, and both 

groups agree that the practices outlined here are a good 

place to start. 

NOTES 

1. Henderson, Nicole J., 

Christopher W. Ortiz, Naomi 

F. Sugie, and Joel Miller, Law 

Enforcement & Arab American Community Relations 

After September 11, 2001: 

Engagement in a Time of 

Uncertainty. New York: Vera 

Institute of Justice, 2006. 

Available online at http:// 

www.vera.org/publication_pdf/ 

353_636.pdf. 

2. Naber, N., “Ambiguous 

Insiders: An Investigation of 

Arab American Invisibility,” 

Ethnic and Racial Studies 23 

(2000): 37-61. 

3. See Davis, Robert C., and 

Nicole J. Henderson, “Willingness to Report Crimes: 

The Role of Ethnic Group 

9 
R ESEARCH FOR PRACTICE / JUL. 08 

Membership and Community 

Efficacy,” Crime and Delinquency 49 (4) (October 

2003): 564-580; Pogrebin, 

M.A., and E.D. Poole, “Culture Conflict and Crime in the 

Korean-American Community,” 

Criminal Justice Policy 

Review 4 (1990): 69-78; 

Song, J., “Attitudes of Chinese Immigrants and Vietnamese Refugees Toward 

Law Enforcement in the United States,” Justice Quarterly 

9 (1992): 703-719. 

4. Shah, Susan, Insha 

Rahman, and Anita Khashu, 

Overcoming Language 

Barriers: Solutions for Law 

Enforcement, New York: 

Vera Institute of Justice, and 

Washington: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of 

Community Oriented Policing 

Services, 2007. Available 

online at http://www.vera.org/ 

publication_pdf/382_735.pdf. 

10 
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