The Arab-American detective bridging gaps to keep the peace
Yemeni-born Ahmed Nasser is an NYPD detective. He is also the police department's liaison to the Arab and Muslim community.
Nasser emigrated to the US when he was 20 and joined the police force shortly after earning his degree.
He was one of only three people of Arab descent in his Police Academy class; there were only 20 in the whole department at the time.
A year after he graduated from the Academy, terrorists attacked the US on September 11, 2001.
He has spent the last decade trying to put his police colleagues and members of the Muslim community at ease with one another.
It has not always been easy and when he bows down to Mecca on his lunch breaks, Nasser says he still prays for understanding.
Video by Lisa Desai and Sarah Gross.
31 Oct 2011
- From the section Magazine