Mohamad Bazzy at a swearing in ceremony with Dearborn Heights Police Chief Lee Gavin.

DEARBORN HEIGHTS — The Dearborn Heights Police Department has hired its first Arab-Muslim American officer as part of its attempt to diversify the police force. 

Last week, 27-year-old Mohamad Bazzy was sworn in with five other new police hires by Dearborn Heights Judge David Turfe. This week he began his three month apprenticeship with a field training officer, after which he will be patrolling the roads. 

Out of 82 officers, the city now has two of Middle Eastern descent on its police force. One of them is a Chaldean American who was hired in six months ago. Bazzy is a Lebanese-American who has been a long-time Dearborn resident.

“I feel like I can finally give back to the community and help relay problems back to the department,” Bazzy told The Arab American News.

Bazzy attended Fordson High School and Henry Ford Community College and graduated from Wayne State University (WSU) in 2008. He went through the Oakland County Police Academy and served as a WSU police officer from 2011 through 2014.

As an officer at WSU, he wore two hats; one as a patrolman and the other as part of the undercover specialized unit.  He applied for a position with the Dearborn Heights Police Department when he learned that the department was searching for qualified and diverse candidates.

 “The chief was really looking to hire someone from the community but he didn’t have anyone applying,” he said. “I was one of the first to do so and pass the exam. It was down to me and another Arabic guy.”

Searching for qualified Arab American candidates seems to be a difficult task in other communities as well. In Dearborn, of 185 officers on the police force, only eight are of Arabic descent. 

Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad had told The Arab American News in the past that qualified Arab American candidates are hard to come by. They often begin to get weeded out after they perform poorly on a mandated exam and after the applicants receive extensive background checks. 

Dearborn Heights Police Chief Lee Gavin said his department is always looking to diversify its police force in order to represent the city’s growing diverse population of Arab Americans and African Americans, but it is also facing roadblocks in finding qualified individuals.

“My goal has long been to diversify and bring in Middle Eastern and Black officers,” Gavin said. “Our problem is, we have rules set by the Civil Service Commission and candidates have to put themselves through the academy before they are hired.” 

Gavin explained that the department is licensed by the Michigan Commission of Law Enforcement Standards (MCLES) which assists in hiring in new police officers at many municipal departments statewide.

The agency does extensive background checks and requires an applicant to have gone through the police academy prior to hiring. 

As required by the MCLES guidelines, applicants are reviewed on a first come, first serve basis, despite their race or background. Gavin added that this year the city had a list of more than 40 applicants. Only a few of them were of Arab American descent.

“We get very few [Arab American] officers that apply,” Gavin said. “Out of a list of 40, we had three or four and we had to take them in order of their scores. We have to go in order. Those are the guidelines we have to follow.”

It may take the police department up to a year to exhaust the list of 40 applicants. But outside of that hurdle, it seems Arab Americans in law enforcement are straying far away from municipal police departments all-together.

Gavin has had conversations with students in the criminal justice field who feel they’d rather stray away from their Arab American community. 

 “A lot of the Middle East potential officers don’t want to work in the communities they live in. They don’t want to deal with the families,” Gavin said.  “When we talk to the students, many of them want to go to border patrol and customs so they don’t have to go through the day to day dealings with families and friends.” 

Despite lacking an Arab American and African American presence, the police officers at Dearborn Heights do receive diversity and awareness training. The department has held seminars and has received tips from Dearborn Police officers on how to properly engage with Muslim and Arab American residents. 

Meanwhile, Bazzy said he’s appreciative that the department is hiring qualified individuals from the community and is encouraging other Arab Americans to follow in his path. He is hoping The Arab American News helps deliver the message.

“The best thing to do is apply with good credentials and have a good education to back you up,” Bazzy said. “I was having a conversation with the chief and he really wants the community to be involved. I want to put this out there to show how appreciative we are of the department for hiring an Arab American and hopefully it can encourage others to do the same.”