Muslim Police Officer Challenges Racism Claims in French Force

"I have never encountered racism in the context of my profession. For 16 years, I have known about ten services and I have never had the slightest problem," assures the 35-year-old police officer. "During Ramadan, my colleagues wait for me to have dinner with me in the evening. As for my private life, I still live in the neighborhood where I grew up. All the young people in the housing project know that I am a cop. When there is dialogue, it doesn’t pose any problem. I leave every morning and come home in the evening with my service uniform without the slightest incident," he tells the newspaper Le Parisien.

According to him, not all police officers are racist. "I can’t stand hearing that the police are racist. Like everywhere else, there is a minority in our ranks, but we shouldn’t generalize to the whole profession." He says he does not understand why "so much importance is given to this minority."

This police officer claims to have very good relationships with his entourage who do not skimp on praise for him. "We knew him before he was a cop," says a 27-year-old youth. "For me, it doesn’t change anything, it’s a job like any other. There are good and bad ones." For many young people in the neighborhood, the young police officer is "a good cop." They often have the opportunity to talk to him.

According to the officer, these exchanges are fruitful. "We can’t understand each other if we don’t talk to each other. At the time, there were the Departmental Youth Leisure Centers (CDLJ). These structures supervised by police officers allowed us to exchange around sports activities. Of course, when we met the young people in the neighborhood again, everything went much better, because we had already exchanged. We need to bring young people closer to the law enforcement agencies," he summarizes.