Muslim Profiling Effort

Is it any shock that the Los Angeles Police isn't spending a lot of effort looking into the Amish community?

LAPD defends Muslim mapping effort

The LAPD's plan to map Muslim communities in an effort to identify potential hotbeds of extremism departs from the way law enforcement has dealt with local anti-terrorism since 9/11 and prompted widespread skepticism Friday.

In a document reviewed Friday by The Times, the LAPD's Los Angeles Police Department's counter-terrorism bureau proposed using U.S. census data and other demographic information to pinpoint various Muslim communities and then reach out to them through social service agencies.

What possible argument can there be against this?

"We learned our lesson early on," one retired FBI counter-terrorism official said Friday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, questioned the logic of the mapping program, reasoning that the wholesale plotting of Muslim communities -- rather than zeroing in on suspected extremists -- could drain counter-terrorism resources and alienate Muslim residents at a time when they are crucial to law enforcement efforts.

I understand it may not be the best use of police recources and I expect that if it becomes evident the police department will stop.

"I realize that there are many concerns with a potential mapping project related to profiling, privacy and civil liberties," center Director Detlof von Winterfeldt said in a statement.

Oh no, the sky is falling.

"Anytime the administration talks about attacking Iran, anytime they start to float ideas like these, we are pushed more toward extremism," Mohammed Abdul Aleem, 49, of Culver City said. "Every time our president opens his mouth, there are more people joining Al Qaeda."To Aleem, the LAPD's plan to map out the city's Muslim community will do nothing more than "fuel the fire."

Sounds like a threat. Non-the-less doing nothing is not acceptable.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lapd10nov10,0,3960843.story?page=1&coll=la-home-center