ACLU Objects To LAPD Plan To Map Muslim Communities As Racial, Religious Profiling

Los Angeles, CA (AHN) - A plan by the Los Angeles Police Department to map the locations of all Muslim communities in the city, so their potential as places to shelter terrorist cells can be analyzed, has drawn an outraged response from critics who denounced it as racial and religious profiling.

An estimated 500,000 Muslims live in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties.

"We want to know where the Pakistanis, Iranians and Chechens are so we can reach out to those communities," LAPD Deputy Chief Michael P. Downing was quoted by CBS news as saying Thursday.

While some Islamic groups and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California objected to the plan, Downing, who heads the anti-terrorism bureau, defended it. He said the plan would help Muslim communities avoid the influence of those who advocated a "violent, ideologically-based extremism" and sought to radicalize Islamic residents, according to CBS news and Los Angeles Times reports.

But the ACLU of Southern California views the project differently. In its letter to Downing, which was co-signed by the Islamic Shura Council, the Council on American Islamic Relations, and Muslim Advocates the ACLU explained what is wrong with Downing's plan.

"Singling out individuals for investigation, surveillance, and data-gathering based on their religion constitutes religious profiling that is just as unlawful, ill-advised, and deeply offensive as racial profiling...[ ]...While preventing violence and terrorism is a goal we all share, it must be pursued in a manner respectful of the rights of the hundreds of thousands of Muslim Americans living in the Los Angeles area" Peter Bibring of the ACLU-SC wrote, according to a statement on the ACLU-SC website.

The project is still in its early stages. Downing said the LAPD wants to work with a Muslim partner and plans to have the University of Southern California's Center for Risk and Economic Analysis assemble the data.

Downing testified about the plan to a U.S. Senate committee on Oct. 30.

In the ACLU-SC letter, the opposing groups asked for a meeting among the parties to discuss "this important safety and civil liberties issue."