Police bid to tackle Islamophobia
By Imtiaz Tyab
BBC News
Scotland's first Muslim Police Association is being created in an attempt
to encourage more
Muslims to join and stay in the force.
Strathclyde Police hopes the group will also help tackle Islamophobia and
improve understanding
of Islam.
Pc Amar Shakoor, who was Scotland's first Muslim officer, said negativity
had recently been
directed towards the Muslim community.
He said the association hoped to put Islam in a more positive light.
"We want to highlight some of the positive things Islam can provide to the
communities and not
just the police services," he said.
According to Pc Shakoor, since the 9/11 World Trade Centre Attack, London
tube bombings and
Glasgow Airport attempted bombings, Muslims have faced suspicion and
increasing scrutiny.
He said links were now more important than ever and one of the best ways
to do this was to
recruit more Muslim officers.
Strathclyde Police, which has more than 7,000 officers, has only about 31
Muslim officers among
its ranks.
These are officers who are positive about seeing the police force as a
career and want to use
their association to reach out to Muslims
Chief Constable Steve House
Earlier this year, Chief Constable Steve House met Muslim officers in
England who had started a
similar group. It has been quite successful, not only within the Muslim
community, but also in
tackling institutional issues within their own police forces.
But a big part of what the Muslim Police Association here in Scotland
hopes to achieve is to
encourage young Scottish Muslims, who might not otherwise consider a
career with the police, to
see it is a viable option - somewhere they can move up the ladder and
become part of the
establishment.
Chief Constable House said: "The formation of the Muslim Police
Association is a positive step.
"These are officers who are positive about seeing the police force as a
career and want to use
their association to reach out to Muslims.
"They are not saying 'don't join the police it's a bad career move', they
are saying look, come
and join, we're happy with our career choice, come and join."
However, some young Scottish Muslims were not sold on the idea of becoming
officers.
I met two young men at a chip shop in Pollokshields, a largely Muslim area
of Glasgow.
They said they would never join the police because their experiences with
them had been largely
negative.
But they supported the idea of a Muslim Police Association, especially if
it meant more Muslim
officers patrolling the areas in which they live.
One said: "For Muslims especially, police are not our best friends. If you
get a few Muslim
people patrolling the area it'd be a good thing, especially on Eid and
stuff like that.
"They think it's fights but really people are just celebrating. So a lot
of stuff can be
misinterpreted depending on who's patrolling the area."
But getting more Muslim police officers in Muslim areas is easier said
than done.
There are only about 30,000 Muslims living in the Strathclyde region,
making up just 1.5% of
the population so the number of recruits per capita will always be small.
But there is another issue at play.
Chief Constable House says Muslim police officers are just that - police
officers.
And they do not want to be treated any differently or be forced to police
only one community.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7391852.stm
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