Dearborn Heights mayor says proposed Arabic police patch was not an "official prototype"
Source: CBS News
September 5, 2025 / 9:21 PM EDT
With nearly 40% of its residents identifying as Middle Eastern or North African, Dearborn Heights, Michigan, has had a longstanding relationship with its Arabic-speaking community. On Wednesday, the Dearborn Heights Police Department posted a photo on Facebook of a digital mock-up of a Dearborn Heights police patch, which featured the words "Dearborn Heights Police" in both English and Arabic.
In the post, the department identified the officer who designed the patch and said the design "is another way we [Dearborn Heights Police Department] continue to celebrate the rich cultures that make our city unique." The department also stated in the post that the patch was "optional." It would mark the first police patch in the country to feature the Arabic language.
The police department later disabled comments on that post after dozens of Facebook users expressed concern and frustration with the design before ultimately deleting the post and photo from its Facebook page. The Facebook post went viral after publications, like Breitbart News, posted on X about it Thursday afternoon. Despite the patch design not being related to Islam, the post has sparked Islamophobic comments.
High-profile right-wing political activists weighed in, including Laura Loomer, who called the patch "Sharia Law in America," and Charlie Kirk, who said in a post on X, "When you get conquered, you get a new language." Since then, city leaders have sought to clarify their intent in coming up with the mock-up patch. On Friday, Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi said it was only intended for "internal discussions" and should not have been presented as an official prototype.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/dearborn-heights-proposed-arabic-police-patch/
An optional patch suggested for the Dearborn Heights PD. Photo credit DHPD
Mayor of Dearborn Heights is Bilal (Bill) Bazzi (R) (Lebanese immigrant and naturalized citizen also nominated by 45 to be Ambassador to Tunisa).
NEWSFLASH: You are NOT "white". You were just warned.
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However, I agree with the complainers. Even San Antonio doesn't have bilingual police patches.
If they need something identifying them as police in Arabic, have a separate patch that simply says "Police شرطة:"
Like this one from California:
This way, they are identified as police in Arabic.
Brownsville is 90% Hispanic and their badges are in English
Searched the web for bilingual official police badges and I could not find any.
I agree with the need to identify oneself as police officer. However, police are "neutral". If another language is needed add an extra generic patch, but don't use the city's official. The one designed is multicultural to celebrate Arabic heritage. I don't know how to incorporate it without using a language, but I don't think using a language is the way to do it.
They do have Hasidic first responders in NYC, but they are their own private organization and don't service non-Jews. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatzalah
And Muslim Community Patrol, which is also private: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/03/nyregion/muslim-community-patrol-brooklyn.html
If Arabs want to start their own service, like in NY that's fine. (But I don't think they have the resources to do it)
Oh well, if someone can find an "official" police badge that is bilingual, then show me and I will change my mind.
