The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is offering mosques and other Muslim institutions a model "Law Enforcement Engagement Policy." The policy comes in the wake of revelations by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that FBI agents have gathered intelligence on constitutionally-protected activities at mosques during community outreach events.
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CAIR also offered questions that community leadership can and should ask of law enforcement agents who are conducting community outreach.
The model policy is intended to ensure that Muslims play an appropriate role in preventing criminal activity in their
neighborhoods, while ensuring that congregants are protected from possible abusive law enforcement practices.
"CAIR is committed to upholding longstanding constitutional and legal limits on overly-broad law enforcement efforts that target ethnic or religious minorities," said CAIR National Legislative Director Corey Saylor. "Equally, we believe it is the civic and religious duty of every American Muslim to work with law enforcement to protect our nation." Saylor added: "President Reagan's signature phrase, 'Trust, but verify,' is an excellent principle for our community's relations with law enforcement. One can never overstate the positive contributions of law enforcement, but we must always remain vigilant for individuals, policies or practices that cross legal or constitutional boundaries."
Click here to download CAIR's Model Law Enforcement Engagement Policy
If you have any questions, please contact CAIR-MN at
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or 612.206.3360.