The Community Relations Service (CRS) of the Department of Justice will release a new police roll call training video titled On Common Ground – Understanding Sikh Americans on January 17, 2007. The goal of the training video is to increase awareness and develop a better understanding about the cultural practices of Sikh and South Asian Americans among law enforcement officials.

Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, there has been a sharp increase in the number of hate incidents and hate crimes against Sikh Americans of South Asian descent. These attacks have been primarily due to the lack of awareness and the common misconception that Sikh Americans are either from the Middle East, Arab or Muslim.

The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) developed the film for the Community Relations Service. The ground-breaking 17-minute training video will be distributed to federal, state and local law enforcement officials across the country. The training video includes detailed information about cultural practices and articles of faith that are commonly unfamiliar to law enforcement. The protocols for the respectful handling of the articles of faith recommended in the training video are designed with officer safety in mind and are to be followed only in a non-emergency, non-crisis situation.

What: Release of police roll call training video titled: On Common Ground – Understanding Sikh Americans

When: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 at 4:30 p.m.

Where:
The Charles Sumner School
1201 17th Street, NW
Washington DC 20036
(Enter at NE corner of 17th and M Street, under the Sumner School Banner)

The Community Relations Service previously developed a similar training video designed to educate law enforcement and community groups on Arab, and Muslim Americans. The previous CRS training video, “The First Three to Five Seconds,” was widely successful and is being used by the Department of Homeland Security currently it to train all of their law enforcement staff.

Represented agencies and organizations at the event will include the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) , and civil rights leaders from across the nation.

To attend the event, please RSVP Rajbir Singh Datta at 202-393-2700 ext 27 or info@saldef.org [Email from SALDEF]