DETROIT — The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, a diverse body of law enforcement officials, recently promoted two Arab American officers — Ali Mazloum and Milad Fadlallah — and also recruited two other Arab Americans, Agadeer Khadker and Hadi Hammoud.

Mazloum, a Lebanese American, began working with the Sheriff’s Office in 1999 as a jailor. After being endorsed to start in the police academy, he graduated at the top of his class and was then asked to work in the criminal division in the Third Circuit Court. He said that following his completion of  courses at the academy, the state recruited him to be an instructor there alongside his role in the criminal division.

Since then he has worked in various positions, including undercover and surveillance work, case management and road patrol before most recently stepping into the sergeant position.

Wayne County is a diverse county with a large Arab American population. With Arab American officers serving, this can help the Sheriff’s Office better understand and care to Arab American needs or concerns.

Mazloum told The Arab American News how his heritage aids his role in serving the community, allowing him to understand the challenges fellow Arab Americans may face, especially those with a language barrier. He said he played a crucial role in the criminal division, often being asked to translate or interpret Arabic in court cases.

“When there’s a language barrier, unfortunately sometimes that doesn’t work favorably; you’re not given the benefit of the doubt if the communication level is obstructed,” he said. “So I can come in on a stop and back my partner up. So now I’m providing security for my partner, but I’m also explaining, ‘look he’s new to the country, he didn’t understand this is the law here. Perhaps we can give him a break and this time around a very stern warning; he doesn’t deserve a ticket.’ And this is where I draw a lot of inspiration, I think, because I’ve been on both sides of a traffic stop. I know how nerve-racking, I know how for somebody that’s just trying make it by, a ticket could be their day’s wage and worse it could affect their driving record.”

Mazloum also said he feels indebted to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office for the opportunity it gave him 25 years ago, taking him onboard. Each role he has stepped into, he said, feels like a new accomplishment giving him a deeper sense of fulfillment in serving the community.

Sheriff Raphael Washington and Undersheriff Mike Jaafar with Ali Mazloum and Milad Fadlallah. Photo courtesy of Undersheriff Mike Jaafar

Fadlallah, a Lebanese American who began working in law enforcement in 1996, was promoted to captain and now oversees the Wayne County Detention Facility. Starting out as a security police officer for Fairlane Mall security and then transitioning to the Inkster Police Department, he has been working in uniform the last 28 years.

Serving in Inkster, he said, was a pivotal piece of his law enforcement career as he worked with the community directly, meeting with community members and business owners to analyze crime and address concerns.

He said connecting with the community was one of his favorite moments throughout his career.

“I used to bike on a police bike around the neighborhood and be close with the community,” he said. “It was the best thing ever; those are my favorite years.”

Fadlallah also said that being an Arab American has been a pivotal piece in his law enforcement career. He speaks, reads and writes Arabic, thus allowing him to communicate with individuals whose native language is Arabic when they are dealing with law enforcement.

“I came across a lot of Arab Americans over here that are scared, they don’t know what’s going on and it was very comforting for them to see somebody who relates to them,” he said.

He also said that he is often used to help translate as he communicates with inmates of Arab descent who struggle with English.

“We have a lot of prisoners in here that don’t understand English, don’t know what’s going on in the system, so I get to meet them and explain it,” he said. “They call me a lot of times to translate.”

He told The Arab American News he is honored to serve as a captain in the Sheriff’s Office and thanked Washington and Jaafar for recognizing his efforts.

“The sheriff himself and the undersheriff, they were able to recognize who I am and what I have accomplished in my life,” he said. “And to give me this opportunity to be the captain in the last three years of my law enforcement career was basically the best gift I received in law enforcement since I started in 1996.”

Jaafar, himself an Arab American, said that it’s important to have law enforcement representation for all of the individuals who comprise Wayne County, adding that Sheriff Washington emphasizes the need for a diverse police department.

“It’s important that your police department matches your community and is able to relate to your community, and that’s why it’s so important to hire Arab American officers, because there’s such a large Arab American population in the county of Wayne,” he said.

“It’s about all races in general; I’m a firm believer that you should represent all of the constituents.”

When asked if being an Arab American allows him to better serve the community, he said that being a proud American of Lebanese descent has greatly assisted in making him a better police officer.

“There’s been many scenarios when I worked for the Detroit Police Department back in the day, where I was able to squash certain scenarios with large crowds that may have gotten out of hand that happened to have Arab Americans in the crowd,” he said. “And I was able to deescalate based on that relationship and understanding, the way I was able to talk to them.”

Two new Arab American recruits join department

The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office has added two new Arab American officers — Agadeer Khadher and Hadi Hammoud — to its ranks.

Sheriff Raphael Washington and Undersheriff Mike Jaafar with two new recruits, Agadeer Khadher and Hadi Hammoud. Photo courtesy of Undersheriff Mike Jaafar.

Khadher, a Chaldean American, said that he is currently working as a prison officer, looking after the inmates and assuring they are taken care of in their custody.

He told The Arab American News that working as a police officer has always been a dream of his and after applying, got the call from Wayne County Sheriff’s Office to serve. Inspired to serve his community and be an earnest officer, he shared his ambition to expand his law enforcement career moving forward.

“Serving my community is always important and obviously the oath that I took from Sheriff Washington is something to be taken seriously,” he said.

He said that he finds that there is a negative stigma surrounding law enforcement and addressed his goals to shed light on all of the work they do to protect and serve as well as his hopes to recruit more Arab Americans.

Hammoud, a Lebanese American, earned a degree in Criminal Justice and said that law enforcement has always been his passion. He shared that while growing up, he didn’t see many Arabs in law enforcement, and felt compelled to be a part of the change.

Hammoud said he is the only one out of his 11 siblings who gravitated toward a career in law enforcement, but after beginning training and sharing his experiences with his family, it garnered his brothers’ interest in law enforcement as well.

He said that seeing the disparities of representation in law enforcement in his adolescence, he realized his interest in getting involved and his passion for helping.

“I had a passion for helping people and changing the perspective of how Arabs themselves see the police,” Hammoud said.

The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office is currently hiring for anybody who is interested.

“Were hiring,” Jaafar said. “We are looking for candidates regardless of race, religion or ethnicity; we are hiring. By all means if you’re looking for a job, come join the best department in the state of Michigan.”