A Muslim community group in New York City has given outgoing city Police Commissioner Ray Kelly an award for his service.
The Muslim Advisory Council awarded Kelly, who will be replaced by Police Commissioner Bill Bratton on Jan. 1, a plaque in recognition of the NYPD's outreach program, reports
The New York Post.
The council, which was established by the NYPD in 2012 to improve relations with the Muslim community, said the program should be a "model" for other cities, citing the youth cricket and soccer leagues for which the department recruited Muslims.
But not all Muslims in the Big Apple agree with the award, pointing to the NYPD's controversial surveillance of Muslim communities in New York and New Jersey.
"While there may be a tiny minority of Muslims who do support Ray Kelly's actions — those who are perhaps unaware of the damage done by NYPD predatory policing — the vast majority of Muslim New Yorkers do not support or applaud his ineffective and biased policies," Ryan Mahoney, president of the group's New York chapter, said in a statement, reports the
Huffington Post.
Members of the Advisory Council, though, have praised the opportunity it affords for engagement with law enforcement officers.
Imam Tahir Kukiqi of the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center on Staten Island said he joined the council to help clear up "misconceptions," telling the Post the award was given to Kelly because "the NYPD has the best record of public safety in the whole entire nation, and a great deal of that effort has been done by the leadership of Mr. Kelly."
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