November 2, 2012

As the presidential election inches closer, issues such as health care, immigration, foreign policy and the war in Afghanistan all have been part of the debates and discussions surrounding the elections. Yet one policy discussion that has not reached the agenda of either candidates is how they will deal with the national security policy of countering violent extremism (CVE).

Last week, a panel of experts, including Haris Tarin, the Director of MPAC’s Washington, DC, office, came together to make recommendations to the next president on how to address issues top on voters’ minds and engage community members and policy-makers.

"The best was to have community participation is through patnership with local law enforcement," Tarin said highlighting MPAC's work with LAPD in reforming its Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) program, which is an order on how officers identify and report suspicious activity – behaviors that indicate potential criminal activity – related to terrorism. 

The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) and the Duke Islamic Studies Center at Duke University hosted “What the Next President Needs to Know about Countering Violent Extremism.”

SEE: Full video of the ISPU forum

Joining Tarin for the discussion were David Schanzer, Associate Professor at Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University and Director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security; Heather Hurlburt, Executive Director of the National Security Network, and Shireen Zaman, Executive Director of ISPU.