Doc's Talk: Bronx: Muslim forms citizen patrol
creeping
Is this really about safety or is it about Islamic dawah and recruitment? via Local Muslim leader forms citizen patrol to curb violence and improve community relations in Bronx – NY Daily News.
At least one local leader thinks Bronx residents need to step up to the plate concerning police-community relations.
Sheikh Moussa Drammeh believes that the discord between minority groups and cops in the borough stems from finger-pointing and bad politics, not bad policing.
“The problem is not the police. Politicians and other groups blame the police rather than take action,” Drammeh said.
“It is easier to just say stop and frisk is bad, rather than go out on the streets and promote peace.”
creeping
Is this really about safety or is it about Islamic dawah and recruitment? via Local Muslim leader forms citizen patrol to curb violence and improve community relations in Bronx – NY Daily News.
At least one local leader thinks Bronx residents need to step up to the plate concerning police-community relations.
Sheikh Moussa Drammeh believes that the discord between minority groups and cops in the borough stems from finger-pointing and bad politics, not bad policing.
“The problem is not the police. Politicians and other groups blame the police rather than take action,” Drammeh said.
“It is easier to just say stop and frisk is bad, rather than go out on the streets and promote peace.”
Drammeh wants to change attitudes, and make the borough a safer place, by creating a volunteer neighborhood watch group dubbed Community Peace Patrol Officers.
While other groups hold rallies and vigils in the wake of violent acts, Drammeh hopes to prevent them.
Drammeh handed out leaflets about the patrol at the Parkchester subway station, while coincidentally, Transit cops were doing random bag searches.
By dividing the borough into five zones and assigning local leaders as captains, Drammeh plans on offering Bronx youth that may be skeptical of the police an alternative resource for safety or counseling.
Islamic counseling no doubt.
He wrote to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly about his proprosal, and NYPD Community Affairs officers have reached out to him. Drammeh plans on meeting with commanding officers from various precincts.
NYPD Commish has ok’d Muslim patrols?
He also hopes to gain corporate sponsorship to purchase patrol vehicles.
“We want to make our presence known in the community,” he said. “We want people to know that there are people here that are looking out for them. We will help them, listen to them, and point them in the right direction.”
As the father of three teenage children, Drammeh feels he is well versed in the struggles that parents and teens face.
Drammeh compared his idea to the citizen patrols seen in Brooklyn’s Jewish neighborhoods such as Crown Heights and Borough Park.
Muslims are either blaming the Jews or using them.
The 50-year-old, who is the principal of the Islamic Leadership School in Parkchester, said he would like to develop a similar relationship between the community and the NYPD.
“We will never interfere with law enforcement. We are not law enforcement,” Drammeh said emphatically.
“But we can create a better relationship between all parties, and hopefully make the Bronx safer.”
What would he do if he encountered Muslims illegally blocking city streets for prayer like this?
While other groups hold rallies and vigils in the wake of violent acts, Drammeh hopes to prevent them.
Drammeh handed out leaflets about the patrol at the Parkchester subway station, while coincidentally, Transit cops were doing random bag searches.
By dividing the borough into five zones and assigning local leaders as captains, Drammeh plans on offering Bronx youth that may be skeptical of the police an alternative resource for safety or counseling.
Islamic counseling no doubt.
He wrote to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly about his proprosal, and NYPD Community Affairs officers have reached out to him. Drammeh plans on meeting with commanding officers from various precincts.
NYPD Commish has ok’d Muslim patrols?
He also hopes to gain corporate sponsorship to purchase patrol vehicles.
“We want to make our presence known in the community,” he said. “We want people to know that there are people here that are looking out for them. We will help them, listen to them, and point them in the right direction.”
As the father of three teenage children, Drammeh feels he is well versed in the struggles that parents and teens face.
Drammeh compared his idea to the citizen patrols seen in Brooklyn’s Jewish neighborhoods such as Crown Heights and Borough Park.
Muslims are either blaming the Jews or using them.
The 50-year-old, who is the principal of the Islamic Leadership School in Parkchester, said he would like to develop a similar relationship between the community and the NYPD.
“We will never interfere with law enforcement. We are not law enforcement,” Drammeh said emphatically.
“But we can create a better relationship between all parties, and hopefully make the Bronx safer.”
What would he do if he encountered Muslims illegally blocking city streets for prayer like this?
