Police forces in Canada often have officers meet with ethnic groups to build trust and good relations. Two years ago, the national police, the RCMP, began such an outreach program with Muslim communities across the country with hopes that might help avert a potential terrorist attack.
“We’re not here tonight to recruit informants or spy on people,” says RCMP Sgt. Derek McDonald on one of his regular visits to Toronto-area mosques. “There are no strong-arm tactics.” McDonald says that after meeting with people, he hopes they would be more likely to talk to their imam if they witness suspicious activity and that they might ask him “Who’s that RCMP guy that came to talk last year?”
Canada is a target for terrorism, say police, and a few plots have been foiled in the past. The nature of threats is changing, with smaller attacks by few people being planned. So police believe it is critical to encourage dialogue that could eventually serve as an early warning system.
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