Community policing is based in the principle that public safety requires that the police and community cooperate in identifying threats to public safety and in designing and implementing strategies and tactics for countering those threats. Intelligence gathering is recognized as a critical part of identifying and thwarting terrorist plots and activities, and local police are positioned to collect such intelligence. Citizen-police collaboration under the philosophy of community policing provides the trust and motivation for citizens to become sources of information on suspicious activities. The cultivation of such trust between police and minority groups/immigrant groups is particularly important, since their cultural connections (language, customs, religious orientations, and social interactions) make them potentially valuable sources of information on foreign nationals who enter a country legally or illegally. If mistrust, fear, and antagonism develops between the police and community residents, residents will be reluctant to cooperate with police and volunteer information that could be helpful for police in detecting terrorist activity. In this regard, police must be careful not to engage in ethnic profiling, since this has the potential to alienate the very people the police need to provide valuable information on what is happening in their neighborhoods. The heightened role of citizens in providing information to police can only occur when law enforcement agencies adhere to the principles of community policing. 24 references