BUILDING
TRUST
FBI ‘At the Table’ With Muslims
10/02/2006
 |
| Joseph
Persichini Jr., assistant director in charge
of the FBI's Washington field office |
A
U.S. Muslim leader who addressed 500 agents
during a recent training seminar at the FBI
Academy in Virginia said the relationship between
his constituents and the FBI isn’t perfect,
but it’s never been better.
“It’s
a very healthy relationship,” said Nawar
Shora of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee, the largest Arab-American civil rights
group in the U.S. “We may not always agree,
but both sides know that we need to be sitting
at the table having that dialogue.”
The
dialogue began in earnest in the wake of the
9/11 attacks. The FBI’s Washington field
office helped create an advisory council of
Arab, Muslim, and Sikh leaders to improve relations
with communities that might be helpful in the
search for intelligence. Shora’s group,
meanwhile, formed a Law Enforcement Outreach
Program in early 2002 to ensure the lines of
communication with the FBI and other law enforcement
agencies were wired for two-way conversations.
The effect has been a slow build-up of trust
through casual gatherings, periodic meetings,
and training seminars for agents like the event
at the FBI Academy earlier this month.
“This
is an area where we need to develop better relationships,”
said Joseph Persichini Jr., acting assistant
director in charge of the Washington field office,
the second largest of 56 field offices in the
U.S. “We must maintain a robust intelligence
gathering mechanism. If we don’t have
an understanding of the communities that we
serve, how can we do that?”
To
that end, Persichini has Muslim leaders on his
speed-dial and recently began requiring all
new agents in his field office to meet with
community leaders and visit area mosques. “What’s
important here is we’re going to their
community and meeting their community. It’s
not them coming to us,” Persichini said.
Shora
has been teaching what he jokingly refers to
as “Arab Muslims 101” to new agents
and intelligence analysts at the FBI Academy
for four years and estimates he’s helped
some 7,000 law enforcement officers in the U.S.
better understand and respect his culture and
background. He says the FBI excels at what he
calls “Step 2” and “Step 3”
of a case: investigation and follow-through.
“Step 1”—understanding Muslim
and minority communities and how they behave—remains
a work in progress, he says.
“Things
have changed drastically since 9/11,”
Shora said. “When we have community members
finally comfortable enough to pick up the phone
and call up the FBI—they feel comfortable
enough to call the Bureau—we are getting
there.”
A
Muslim organization in Northern Virginia recently
honored Persichini for his service to the community
and his office’s outreach. Shora said
the Washington field office has established
a level of trust through communication and understanding.
“I don’t think we’re on two
different sides trying to bridge the gap,”
Shora said. “I think we’re on the
same side and need to discover each other and
work together more.”
Resources:
-
Muslim
Youths See FBI Up Close
-
Reaching
Out Across Cultures (Washington Post)
-
FBI
In Your Community
|
