By Jack Bozeman, MS, CAS
The terrorist events of September 11, 2001 were only the opening rounds in this new type of war that has come to the United States. This war is a real, growing, and personal threat to you, your family, and community. Terrorism works and it has succeeded in forcing individuals to change the way they live their daily lives.
Muslims constitute a growing and increasingly important segment of American society. In the United States, there are essentially three population groups who identify themselves as Muslims:
1) Immigrants who arrived as followers of Islam
2) American citizens who have converted to Islam
3) Those who have been born to the first two groups
There is no accurate count of the number of Muslims in the United States — the U.S. Census Bureau does not collect data on religious identification — but the best estimates of the Muslim population in the United States seem to be between 1.3 million and 7 million. Some examples:
• 1.3 million (American Religious Identification Survey, 2008)
• 2.5 million (Pew Research Center, 2009)
• 4.7 million (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2004)
• 5 million+ (U.S. News & World Report, 2008)
• 7 million (Council on American-Islamic Relations, 2010)
As the Muslim population grows and their communities spread throughout the states, religious leaders say their places of worship must do the same, spurring the construction of mosques and Islamic centers.
But critics say Muslims are looking to expand their places of worship far beyond their need. What’s more, critics say, the organizations building the Islamic centers have provided no account for how they received the funding their massive projects require. Of even greater concern, some critics say, are fears that a radical Islamic agenda may be behind the planning for these large Islamic centers.
Therefore, it is the duty and responsibility of law enforcement (and other first responders) to fully understand their community culture and learn general information about the Islamic faith.
Secondly, law enforcement and first responders need to start learning about the driving forces behind terrorist motivation, as well as ways to recognize potential terrorists and predict an impending terrorist attack. We need to discuss the issues associated with terrorism recognition such as:
• Critical Awareness and Terrorist Identification
• Terrorist Training Methods
• Terrorist Organization and Strategies
• Surveillance Techniques
• Law Enforcement Encounters with Terrorists
• Terrorist Operations and Tactics
So the big question is: “Why aren’t we being trained in understanding Islamic culture or even about the prevention of terror attacks?”
According to some experts:
1. Preparing for terrorism is not a training priority
2. Educating officers about terrorism is “politically incorrect”
3. DHS is more concerned about possibly offending the sensitivities of the Muslim community than they are with helping you learn how to prevent (and, if necessary, respond to) an extremist Islamist terrorist attack
Conclusion
One of the primary focuses of law enforcement and first responder training should be implementing training necessary for personnel to actually understand Islamic culture before it becomes another cultural sensitivity training issue conducted by unwanted outside direction.
Example: You and your partner are dispatched to a domestic violence call. Upon arriving you hear yelling and screaming going on inside the residence. You knock on the door, and make contact with the male who answers the door. As you enter the home, you observe many different wall hangings, which you believe to be of Islamic religious photographs. The female is not to be seen and only the male and his son are standing in the living room.
How would you go about handling this call? Do you understand the importance of Islamic culture present and are you able to read the signs that are being given to you? What type of Muslim sect are you dealing with? Who do you address first? How do you handle the female?
The second primary focus of law enforcement and first responder training should be making terrorism training a reality, whether or not it is considered “politically incorrect.” The enemy has arrived and is here to stay. It is no longer a matter of “if” a terrorist attack will occur, but “when” will it happen.
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not your enemy, for every victory you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you are a fool and will meet defeat in every battle.”
Sun Tzu, 500 B.C. The Art of War
