Innovative Law Enforcement Education

Over 60,000 law enforcement officials from across the United States have screened On Common Ground: Sikh American Cultural Awareness Training for Law Enforcement.

Law Enforcement
Trained in 2007

Federal Agencies:
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SALDEF and DOJ Partnership

In a groundbreaking partnership, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) and the U.S. Department of Justice – Community Relations Service (DOJ-CRS) produced this pioneering Sikh American cultural awareness training film especially for law enforcement. You can watch the film .

Then U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez reflected, “[On Common Ground] makes clear that Sikhs are an integral part of American society. I commend CRS, and I offer my sincere appreciation to CRS and SALDEF for their perseverance and creative effort in producing this educational film.”

Law Enforcement Training

Since its release in 2007, the training program has become an integral part of law enforcement education throughout the United States and is used extensively by federal, state, and local law enforcement. The training video is also being used as a model for law enforcement agencies worldwide including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.

Through your generous support, SALDEF will continue to develop innovative strategies to inform the American public about Sikhism and create a more inviting environment for our families and children. Make your contribution before the year ends to support this work done in the spirit of seva.

Year-Long Campaign Trains Entire Boston Police Force

Washington, D.C. – December 11, 2007: The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the nation’s oldest and largest Sikh American civil rights organization, concluded a highly successful year-long campaign to train the entire Boston Police Department (BPD) on Sikh religious practices. The over 3,000 BPD officers join the 95,000 trained by SALDEF across the nation. SALDEF Regional Director Navjeet Singh conducting trainingBoston Police Commissioner Ed Davis remarked: “This program has provided officers a tremendous opportunity to broaden their knowledge of the cultural and historical factors impacting the Sikh community. The city of Boston is a melting pot of diversity. Therefore, it is critical that our officers are exposed to a curriculum that includes cross-cultural awareness that strengthens community relations and prevents cultural misunderstandings.” Beginning in January 2007, SALDEF New England Director Navjeet Singh and a group of dedicated community activists and volunteers have been training law enforcement officers every week to increase cultural awareness of the Sikh American community and develop an ongoing partnership between law enforcement and the community. “It’s important that police leaders in our community are aware of and have an understanding of the diversity in the City of Boston,” said Mr. Singh. “The completion of this training is a first step in working more with our fellow Americans to ensure they understand who we are and what we believe.” Boston Police DeptThe training is part of SALDEF’s Law Enforcement Partnership Program which has trained over 95,000 law enforcement officers over the past eight years. In 2007 alone, SALDEF training efforts have already reached over 14,000 law enforcement officers in cities across the nation including Washington, DC; Columbia, MO; Des Moines, IA; Greensboro, NC; Charlestown, WV; Portland, OR; and Pittsburgh, PA. Additionally, all 43,000 Transportation Security Officers in the United States will view On Common Ground by year’s end as part of their mandated training. SALDEF would like to thank the U.S. Department of Justice and acknowledge the Boston volunteers: Satnam Singh, Sarbjit Singh Thiara, Kanwaldeep Singh Arneja, Jaswant Singh Chani, KaviRaj Singh, and Achint Kaur, for their dedication to ensure this training endeavor was carried out to its successful conclusion. If you would like to conduct a similar training in your area, please contact SALDEF at training@saldef.org or (202) 393-2700.

Removing a Sikh’s turban in public is the same as a strip search. Not all Arabs are Muslim. A kirpan is not a concealed weapon. Those lessons and others were delivered Wednesday to about 75 Pennsylvania law enforcement officers during a four-hour seminar at the Allegheny County Police Academy. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service, the seminar was designed to teach local agencies about Arab, Muslim and Sikh cultures, officials said. “What do you think of when you hear the term ‘Arab’?” Nawar Shora, director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee’s Law Enforcement Outreach Program, asked attendees. Initial answers were neutral: “Omar Sharif,” “nomads,” “camels.” Only after Shora urged people to include stereotypes did one man respond with “terrorists.” “These are all common answers,” Shora said. Most Americans have negative images of Arabs and Muslims because our schools, pop culture and media promote such stereotypes, he said. But, Shora said, not all Arabs are Muslim; 42 percent of Arab Americans are Catholic. Many famous Americans are of Arab descent, he said, including Ralph Nader, actress Shannon Elizabeth and pop mogul Paula Abdul. “The odds are, you’ve reacted with Arabs. You just haven’t realized it,” he said. But subtle cultural differences exist, Shora said, offering tips for police who might deal with Arabs in non-emergencies. For example, in the Arab world it’s acceptable to stand closer to another person than in the United States. An Arab who gets too close to an officer might not realize it, Shora said. “They’re not getting up in your face, they’re not going for your gun.” Rajbir Datta, a Pittsburgh native and associate director of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said that although Sikhs speak a different language (Punjabi), practice a different religion (Sikhism) and generally come from a different continent (India), they often are mistaken in America for Arab Muslims. Most men wearing turbans in the United States are Sikh, Datta said. If a police officer must search a turban, Datta urged them to explain why, to do so in a private setting, and to offer the Sikh something to cover his hair during the search. “Turbans are very religious, very personal,” he said. “Many men never reveal their hair in public, so making them remove it would be like a public strip search.” Datta said many Sikhs carry a kirpan, a 3- to 6-inch sheathed knife that symbolizes a Sikh’s commitment to protect the weak and promote justice. An officer who has to confiscate a kirpan should explain why and handle the knife with respect, Datta said. Pittsburgh police Detective Julie Stoops said the seminar was educational. Stoops is one of three police liaisons who works with Hispanics. She said she hopes to expand the program to include Muslims, Arabs and Sikhs. “Until today, I was completely ignorant of Sikhism,” Stoops said. “I learned a lot. This was great, one of the best training sessions I’ve taken in a long time.” www.usdoj.gov/crs Chris Togneri can be reached at ctogneri@tribweb.com or 412-380-5632. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_529578.html Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Leading Sikh organizations continue to engage TSA Washington D.C. – September 17, 2007 : In response to the concerns of the Sikh American community and the efforts of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the Sikh Coalition, and UNITED SIKHS, Congressional leaders issued a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator Kip Hawley. Congressional Leaders who sent the letter include: – Congressman Michael Honda, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus; – Congressman John Conyers, Chair House Judiciary Committee – Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee, Chair House Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection – Congressman Tom Lantos, Chair House Foreign Relations Committee – Congressman Bobby Scott, Chair CAPAC Civil Rights Taskforce “We are concerned that the change was made without community consultation,…and that greater discretion for searching headwear without proper guidance for Transportation Security Officers (TSOs), has lead to racial profiling,” said the statement. “A mandatory turban pat-down is tantamount to racial and religious profiling and is therefore unacceptable in our democracy. It would be intolerable if the new policy had indeed been implement, whether intended or not, in this manner.” Read the full text of the letter here. The Congressmen asked Secretary Chertoff and Administrator Hawley to explain aspects of the policy and its implementation, including how and why any misunderstanding and miscommunication occurred. In addition, they requested that TSA and DHS “work with representatives of the Sikh American community to ensure that the policy reflects a respect for the religious significance of turbans within the Sikh faith, and that the screening policy protects our homeland without sacrificing our religious freedoms.” SALDEF commends Congressmen Honda, Conyers, Lantos, Scott, and Congresswoman Jackson-Lee, for responding to the concerns of the Sikh American community brought forth by SALDEF, the Sikh Coalition, and UNITED SIKHS. SALDEF looks forward to continuing discussions with TSA and DHS to finding a solution which respects national security and the religious rights of all Americans. For more information on the new policy and your rights as a passenger, please see below: – Sikh American Groups Meet with TSA about Turban Screening Policy – New Airport Security Screening Procedure Affects Sikh Turban – Airport Security and Your Rights as a Passenger – Video of SALDEF on FOX NEWS

TSA Commits to First Steps; Erroneous New Policy Remains in Effect Washington D.C. – September 12, 2007: On Monday, representatives from the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the Sikh Coalition, and UNITED SIKHS, met with officials from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding the Sikh American community’s concerns about the TSA’s recently revised headwear screening procedure. While our organizations are encouraged by remedial steps proposed by the TSA, we remain concerned that the new policy that singles out head-coverings, specifically the turban and equates it to other forms of non-religious head-coverings, remains in effect. SALDEF, the Sikh Coalition, and UNITED SIKHS appreciate the steps that the TSA is taking to remedy the situation. Our organizations are committed to working with the TSA to find a solution to the Sikh American community’s concerns, while keeping all Americans safe. However, we remain concerned that: – The new TSA-issued screener guidance specifically cites the turban as an item that should be subject to secondary screening; – The new procedures grant screeners too much latitude to subject a Sikh to additional screening, a turban pat-down, or to remove the turban; and – The new policy endangers all Americans by focusing critical security resources on headwear when threat items that can be found anywhere on the body. In preparation for the meeting, the three Sikh American organizations submitted a joint memorandum to the TSA late last week. The memorandum discussed the impact of the new screening procedure, introduced on August 4, 2007, on the Sikh turban. The memorandum proposed measures to revise the procedures with the objective of eliminating its disproportionate impact on the Sikh turban. At the meeting, a high level TSA official stated: “I want to apologize for not getting information out about the [policy] change on head coverings specifically out to [the Sikh American] community before the roll out. We will get better, I promise you.” During the meeting, the TSA promised to take the following steps, in response to our concerns: – The TSA will require all officers to offer private screening to anyone undergoing secondary screening of a head covering. – The TSA will distribute a fact sheet for airline travelers to explain the new airport head-covering screening procedure. – The TSA will conduct cultural sensitivity training for all airport screeners, including in person and online training about Sikh Americans featuring the On Common Ground training video. The TSA will also redistribute the “Common Sikh American Head Coverings” posters to all airports. – The TSA will revise its public-facing website to make it easier for air travelers to file discrimination claims. – The TSA will continue to review the guidance to the Standard Operating Procedure to determine whether its current procedures are necessary to ensure the public’s safety. TSA also explained that persons who clear the “puffer machine” are not ordinarily subjected to secondary screening. Unfortunately, this technology is currently only available at select terminals at one-tenth of the nation’s airports. SALDEF, the Sikh Coalition, and UNITED SIKHS recommend that the Sikh American community take the following steps when traveling: – If requested to undergo a pat down, accept the TSA officer’s offer of a private screening area. – If available, request to go through a “puffer machine” rather than a pat down. Also in attendance at the meeting were representatives of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the Sikh Council on Religion and Education, Sikh Dharma, and the World Sikh Council.

TSA expresses desire to work with community on Turban screening policy Washington D.C. – August 30, 2007: The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the nation’s oldest and largest Sikh American civil rights and advocacy organization, received a call today from Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator Kip Hawley to discuss the revised screening procedures for the Nation’s airports. Administrator Hawley personally called SALDEF Chairman Manjit Singh to assure the Sikh American community that the TSA understands the importance of the Sikh turban and the magnitude of the community’s concerns over the new policy. He committed the TSA to working with the Sikh American community to finding a workable solution which balances respect for the turban and security concerns. The TSA, in a statement issued earlier this afternoon, stated: “Today TSA Administrator Kip Hawley responded to the leaders of the Sikh community. He expressed understanding about the sensitivity and importance of the Sikh head dress screening. He said TSA takes their concerns seriously and is interested in reaching a workable solution that does not compromise security. TSA will implement additional cultural awareness training for its transportation security officers and will continue dialogue with Sikhs and other groups.” The new airport security procedures implemented on August 4, 2007, allow the Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) greater “discretion” regarding passenger screening and to enforce additional screening for individuals who wear head coverings. As per the TSA, the new procedure is aimed at head coverings that can possibly hide a threatening non-metallic object. The guidance regarding the new screening procedure, provided to the 43,000 TSOs, lists the Sikh turban among others (cowboy hats and straw hats), as an example of head coverings that may potentially hide a threatening non-metallic object. “We are grateful to Administrator Hawley for reaching out to us in hopes of furthering the dialogue in working to find a solution to the concerns of the Sikh American community”, said SALDEF Chairman Manjit Singh. “We look forward to working directly with TSA to create a screening procedure that both keeps our county secure, but also ensures that civil liberties are not violated.” The Sikh turban is the only religious head covering cited in the list of example head coverings provided to the TSA airport security screeners. The new procedures explicitly exempts skull caps (religious or not) from the new screening process. Under the old procedure, travelers would only be required to undergo additional security screening if they were unable to successfully clear the metal detector or if they wore loose fitting clothing.

SALDEF meets with TSA to address community concerns and complaints Washington D.C. – August 24, 2007: On Wednesday the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the nation’s oldest and largest Sikh American civil rights organization, met with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and other officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to discuss the impact on Sikh Americans of the recently implemented changes to security screening procedures at the Nation’s airports. The new airport security screening procedures implemented on August 4, 2007, allow the Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) greater “discretion” regarding passenger screening and to enforce additional screening for individuals who wear head coverings. As per the TSA, the new procedure is aimed at head coverings that can possibly hide a threatening non-metallic object. The guidance regarding the new screening procedure, provided to the 43,000 TSOs, lists the Sikh turban among others (cowboy hats, straw hats, etc.), as an example of head coverings that may potentially hide a threatening non-metallic object. The Sikh turban is the only religious head covering cited in the list of example head coverings provided to the TSA airport security screeners. The new procedures explicitly exempts skull caps (religious or not) from the new screening process. Under the old procedure, travelers would only be required to undergo additional security screening if they were unable to successfully clear the metal detector or if they wore loose fitting clothing. SALDEF expressed the Sikh American community’s outrage regarding the discriminatory nature of the new procedure. SALDEF further expressed its disappointment in the lack of any consultation with the Sikh American community prior to finalizing and rolling out the new screening procedures. “We are deeply troubled at the potentially marginalizing effects this policy revision has on the Sikh American community,” said Board Chairman Manjit Singh. “While the need for securing our nation’s airports is undeniably important, the new screening procedures directly “profile” the Sikh American community and other communities of faith. We are encouraged by TSA and DHS’s willingness to address the concerns faced by the Sikh American community. We look forward to a continued dialogue to adequately address and resolve the community’s concerns.” To assist the Sikh community to effectively handle the new airport security screening procedures, SALDEF has created a guide called “ How to Respond to a Request to Search Your Turban” to use during their air travel. We recommend that you download, print and carry a copy with you during your air travel.

SALDEF leverages expertise and past experience to partner with MPD in comprehensive 10-month awareness effort Washington D.C. – August 17, 2007: The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) recently formed a partnership with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) of Washington, DC, to train all 3,000 officers of their force about the Sikh American community and their religious practices. The program, which has been ongoing since March 2007, has trained over 1,000 MPD officers to date. They join the roughly 5,000 local, state, and federal officers trained this year as part of SALDEF’s Law Enforcement Partnership Program (LEPP). “It is of paramount importance that we reach out to and create strong bonds with law enforcement,” said SALDEF Managing Director Kavneet Singh. “Law enforcement agencies understand the importance of actively engaging with the communities they protect and together through programs like our LEPP, we can create a stronger and safer community.” Despite being part of the American landscape for about one hundred years, misconceptions still exist about the Sikh American community. Nine out of ten LEPP graduates have reported that what they learned will immediately help them better serve and protect their communities. The training program is designed to provide law enforcement with an understanding of the Sikh religion and provide recommendations on how to appropriately interact with the community in non-emergency, non-crisis situations. The program utilizes a professionally designed interactive presentation, SALDEF’s Training DVD On Common Ground, and other educational publications including our Who are the Sikhs brochure and SALDEF’s pioneering Law Enforcement Reference Card. One MPD officer said, “[The SALDEF Program is] the best hour of training I’ve had in twenty years on the force.” Community leaders have also noted stronger and friendlier relationships between law enforcement and the Sikh American community. Since its inception, the heads of the over 150 agencies and 30,000 law enforcement and security officers who have gone through LEPP.

A recent initiative by the Department of Homeland Security would expand communication between its agencies and Arab, South Asian and Muslim youth in America. A conference on the issue, called “Roundtable on Security and Liberty: Perspectives of Young Leaders Post 9-11,” is being hailed by participants as a positive first step in repairing years of mutual mistrust.

“We’re dealing with profiling within our communities, and this provides us with a voice to change these problems,” said Rajbir Singh Datta, 25, of the Sikh American Legal Defence & Education Fund (SALDEF) of Washington, D.C., who participated in the conference. “When you’re a high school or college student, you are always dealing with these problems, but not sure how to solve them.” Datta, who lives in Washington, was one of 30 or so young leaders from a wide range of backgrounds who met with several government and law enforcement agencies at the conference, held at George Washington University in Washington in late July. “The youth want — and got access to — government people,” Datta said. Panel discussions ranged from “The State of Arab, Muslim, South Asian, Sikh, and Middle Eastern American Young People Today,” to how to get a job with the federal government. Datta said the best part of the conference was the frank discussions that took place between government officials — including Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff — and participants. “These are youth leaders within communities that are not already integrated with organizations that have a national voice,” Datta said. “You got an un-political response to questions from the government such as ‘How are we doing?’ ‘You’re doing horrible’; they knew they’d get a straight answer.” Datta’s group conducts educational outreach and sensitivity training about Sikhs — a group of non-Muslim South Asians that suffered intense post-Sept. 11 backlash as visible targets because of their traditional turbans. He said there are many positive steps the government has taken to improve community relations, but young people don’t seem to be aware of them. Hesham Mahmoud, of the New Jersey chapter of the American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee, said his group regularly meets with law enforcement and government officials to try to improve relations. “We try to do as much as we can on the local level,” he said. “We meet to communicate our concerns when specific issues occur, and to keep lines of communication open.” Mahmoud said such relationships can benefit both groups — law enforcement feels they can build trust in more insular communities, and members of those communities feel their concerns are being heard. “It’s more a two-way communication,” Mahmoud said. “We always make it clear we are not spies in the community, but if we see something in the community of concern, we’ll definitely enforce the law.” Brett Hovington, chief of community relations for the FBI in Washington, one of the agencies that participated in the recent youth roundtable, said the agency is paying more attention to young people, especially in light of increasing radicalism among young immigrant groups throughout Europe. “For the FBI, it was an overall change in our mission, where we started to realize the importance of having a better understanding of the demographics in this country as they started to change,” Hovington said in a telephone interview from Washington Friday. “The community definitely wanted more communication with government, and at the FBI, we realized we had to make inroads into those communities — it was on both fronts.” Shaarik Zafar, of the Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, which organized the conference, said it was refreshing to hear new perspectives on what it’s like to grow up as a Muslim, Arab-American or South Asian in a post-Sept. 11 world. “It was a very frank and constructive conversation with young people about the issues they face,” he said. “And we look forward to continuing the discussion.” Reach Samantha Henry at 973-569-7172 or henrys@northjersey.com [http://www.northjersey.com/]

SALDEF expresses need for recruitment of Sikh Americans and accommodation of Sikh articles of faith Washington, DC – June 19, 2007:  Last week, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the nation’s oldest Sikh American civil rights and advocacy organization, took part in the first ever Intelligence Community Heritage Summit, hosted by Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell. The purpose of the Summit was to provide the Intelligence Community with an honest assessment of how they are viewed by communities including Arabs, Muslims and Sikh Americans. SALDEF, the only organization representing Sikh Americans at this summit, was one of the select few organizations to meet with officials from a range of intelligence agencies including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), National Security Agency (NSA) and others. The Summit sought to strategize and develop new ways to ensure better recruitment and retention methods within communities that are critical to the mission of the U.S. Intelligence Community. In a prepared statement read at the event, SALDEF stated, “As a result of military uniform policies which prevent practicing Sikh Americans from enlisting in the armed services, the community has developed perceptions that this policy may be implemented across the board in all federal security agencies.  Sikh Americans may therefore disregard and not pursue openings in the intelligence community, be it from the Army or even the FBI and CIA, until this perception is removed and official uniform policies changed to allow religious exceptions for the community.” SALDEF also highlighted the long and proud military, security, and intelligence history of the Sikh community across the world, and advocated for the Intelligence Community to encourage more diversity training and understanding of other cultures and religions, including Sikhs. Attending on behalf of SALDEF was Associate Director Rajbir Singh Datta, who said of the event, “This was a great first step in dispelling myths about each other and to learn how to foster more positive interaction. We look forward to continued discussion and opportunities to meet face to face with representatives of many Intelligence Agencies and ensure access for Sikh Americans and all people of faith.” SALDEF thanks the Director of National Intelligence and his staff for organizing this meeting, and the staff of the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, National Geo-Spatial Intelligence Agency, National Reconnaissance Office, Defense Intelligence Agency, and the Department of State for attending. SALDEF would also like to recognize and thank the FBI National Recruiting and Marketing Unit for serving as a  “best-practices” model for outreach to the Sikh American community.