Determinants of Muslim-American Cooperation with US Counterterrorism Policing

Abstract

Which segments of the Muslim-American community are willing to assist US law enforcement in counterterrorism investigations? I find that Muslims who expect fair treatment from state authorities are more likely to assist in investigations. US-born Muslims are the most cynical towards US law enforcement and are, thus, generally less likely than foreign-born Muslims to assist the police. However, even after accounting for expectations of fairness, all Muslims are significantly less willing to cooperate with police when the suspect is a Muslim, with two key exceptions. First, new Muslims immigrants are less likely than naturalized citizens to engage with police, regardless of the identity of the suspect. Second, despite low expectations of fair treatment from law enforcement, US-born black Muslims are significantly more likely than any other segment of the Muslim-American community to assist police in an investigation involving a Muslim suspect. US-born black Muslims are relatively comfortable engaging with the government and are nearly universal in their rejection of the use of violence against the US government. The findings of this study are important to extending our understanding of the determinants of government compliance among minorities and immigrants, and have important policy implications for counterterrorism policing.

Keywords: Muslim-Americans, counterterrorism, policing, immigrants, law enforcement, cooperation, procedural justice