A Bridge Between Cops and Community

April 25, 2007

Author: ERIK ORTIZ

Source: Orange County Register

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/article_1668388.php

ANAHEIM – Strengthening rapport with the city's Arab-American and Muslim communities required Anaheim police officer Omar Adham to show his trustworthiness.

Being Egyptian-American and speaking some Arabic were assets for the officer, but in a way, his uniform spoke louder.

"Typically, overseas there's a distrust of police, and that carries on in the culture here," Adham, 36, said Tuesday.

On Anaheim's force for 10 years, Adham was assigned liaison to those communities about three years ago.

With the guidance of Garden Grove police Chaplain Steve LaFond and Shakeel Sayed, executive director of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, Adham started an outreach project between police and community leaders called the Muslim Arab-American Law Enforcement Network.