MILLER: She tells police cultural differences cause misunderstandings that lead to incidents. She gives an example of a Muslim woman who aroused suspicion by pulling away when a police dog sniffed her purse -- she had a Koran in the purse, and she did not want the dog, considered unclean, to come in contact with the Holy Book.

Captain ED COURSEY (Takoma Park Police Department): In the post 9-11 era, obviously, the sensitivity to these issues has got to be heightened.

MILLER: Luby Ismail has trained FBI agents and local police around the country, working with the Justice Department's Community Relations Service.

They have now produced a video to be shown at police roll-calls, to reach more law enforcement and emergency personnel.

Unidentified policeman (in Justice Department training video): Could I come in and talk to you?

Unidentified veiled woman: Sorry, my husband isn't home right now.

Narrator: This may seem suspicious -- but it may be inappropriate to enter a home if only someone of the opposite sex is present.

MILLER: The Justice Department says that in counter-terrorism and emergency situations the safety of the public -- and law enforcement officers -- is paramount, and the nature of police work sometimes ruffles feelings. But the department says it is committed to improving relations with minority communities, and it wants to reassure the Muslim and Arab-American communities they will benefit from closer ties to the police.

SHAREE FREEMAN (Director, Community Relations Service, Department of Justice): We do the best we can to assure the communities that they'll be okay -- by open dialogues, by town hall meetings, by having the program that we run, the initiative that we run for Arab, Muslim and Sikh cultural training.

MILLER: Muslim and Arab-American leaders say they endorse the community relations effort, but continue to be concerned by some of the hard-line rhetoric they still hear from some Justice Department officials.

Ms. FREEMAN: That message may be perceived as being mixed, I don't know -- but I think that once they understand what we do and see us work, it all falls away.

Mr. ABI NADER: There are political people in the Justice Department whose concern we think is as much with public posturing as it is with good law enforcement or counter-terrorism. So, what we are hoping is that actions speak louder than words.

MILLER: Police hope to better explain police work to Muslims and Arab-Americans, who in turn want the police to better understand Islam and Arab culture, so that the "us versus them" mentality will disappear. For RELIGION AND ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY, I'm Paul Miller.