LAPD ANNOUNCES PLAN TO MAP CITY'S MUSLIMS IS DOA.

Byline: Rick Orlov

Staff Writer

Reversing itself after generating national controversy, the Los Angeles Police Department announced Thursday that it is officially abandoning a program to map the city's Muslim community.

"In police parlance, it is DOA -- dead on arrival," Police Chief William Bratton said at a late-afternoon news conference at Parker Center after a more than two-hour closed-door meeting with religious and civil rights officials.

"We police this city with the consent and cooperation of the community. We did not have that here, and we will not go forward with this program."

Police officials have maintained for the past week that the program -- first outlined to Congress and disclosed last week -- was an attempt to increase understanding between law enforcement and the 500,000 members of the Muslim community in Los Angeles.

But the plan immediately came under attack as an attempt to racially profile Muslim residents and potentially set them up for special attention by police.

Bratton said new efforts to work with the Muslim community will be undertaken in the future to establish a relationship.

"I admit that I do not know a great deal about the American Muslim community," Bratton said. "Not much of law enforcement does. This is a community where there is not a lot of criminality, and we do not come in contact with it."

But, he said, one of the things he learned is the importance placed by Muslims on being an American.

"One of the things said to me during this session is that they chose to be an American, it was not a matter of chance of birth," Bratton said. "What they said they appreciate about being American is the freedom from fear.

"A lot of these people came from countries where the police were the terrorists. We don't do that here. We do not want to spread fear. We want to deal with criminals."

Several Muslim leaders praised Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for responding to their concerns and changing the policy.

"We are not criminals and we do not tolerate them," said Maher Hatout of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. "If we saw someone breaking the law, if it was the chief himself, we would call the police at the drop of a pin."

Sadegh Namazikah of the Iranian-American Muslim Network also offered his thanks.

"This is a good day to be an American, this is good day to be an Angeleno," Namazikah said.

Deputy Chief Mike Downing, who heads the LAPD's Counter Terrorism Division that developed the program, said it was an effort to extend community policing.

"My whole career is based on reaching out and community policing," Downing said. "This is not what the community wanted, so we are dropping it."

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com

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