The Los Angeles Police Department has defended its program to use census information to pinpoint Muslim communities in an effort to enable better communication with outreach programs. Civil rights critics have accused the police of racial profiling, a charge the police denied. "It is an effort to understand communities," Police Chief William J. Bratton told the Los Angeles Times.

The Muslim population in the United States is estimated at between 1.5 and 7 million. Charges of racial targeting have decreased effectiveness of several national counterterrorist programs.