The reversed decision, made after growing protest by the Muslim communities in the US, was warmly welcomed by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, which along with other Muslim and civil rights organizations spent a week protesting the surveillance plan proposed by Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Michael P. Downing.

The plan, according to Downing, was originally meant to "mitigate radicalization and weed out potential extremists."

"Under the proposed plan, police officials would take a deeper look at their history, demographics, language, culture, ethnic background, socio-economic status, and social interactions," he said.

"There was a clear message from the Muslim community that they were not comfortable with it. So we listened," said Mary Grady, Los Angeles police department spokeswoman.

The ADC lauded the decision to halt the plan, saying "we commend the LAPD for listening to the community and acting in such a rapid and constructive fashion to address the concerns expressed about this ill-thought plan."

Officials in Los Angeles dismissed charges it was akin to religious profiling or targeting the estimated 500,000 Muslim Americans living in the LA area.

They said the mapping plan would be dropped and push their efforts to reach out through dialogue and community output.


KUNA

Güncelleme Tarihi: 16 Kasım 2007, 14:37