The mayor of Dearborn Heights, Michigan, said the Detroit suburb’s police department jumped the gun on posting a mockup of an optional patch in English and Arabic three days ago, explaining it should never have been presented as official.
The Dearborn Heights Police Department announced in a Facebook post earlier this week it was going to be offering its officers the optional patch that had “Dearborn Heights” and “Police” written in both languages — believed to be the first of its kind in the country.
But that post has now been removed, with Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi — nominated by President Trump to a North African ambassadorship — saying not so fast on the proposed alteration to the local police uniform.
It was not “put forth for consensus for further review,” Detroit’s Fox affiliate quotes the mayor as saying.
“Should efforts like this be formally undertaken to make any changes to the Police uniform, it is our goal to include multiple PD stakeholders for a larger conversation, to ensure all are included in the discussion,” Bazzi said. “As we are one PD, each individual’s uniform represents the DHPD as a whole, and therefore merits the review and input of all.”
The police department wrote in its original statement on Facebook that the patch was designed by one of its officers, adding, “Our officers proudly serve all members of our community, and this new design is another way we continue to celebrate the rich cultures that make our city unique.”
However, it should never have been offered as “an official prototype,” Bazzi, who was born in Lebanon and is the city’s first Muslim mayor, said.
The patch generated thousands of comments on Facebook, many of them in opposition, including one local man who posted, “we’ve lost the city.”
Dearborn Heights’ Middle Eastern and North African population was 39% as of 2023. In neighboring Dearborn that number is roughly 55%.
President Donald Trump won both those cities in the 2024 election by eight and six-point margins over Vice President Kamala Harris. He actively sought out Arab and Muslim support while campaigning as a “peace candidate” in Michigan.
One of those who backed Trump was Mayor Bazzi, who the president earlier this year appointed as the United States ambassador to Tunisia, an Arab country with a population of some 12.3 million.
Bazzi just had his confirmation hearing in Washington Wednesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which now is expected to go to full Senate confirmation.
Bazzi, 62, is a classic American success story. He came to the U.S. at 12 from Lebanon with no formal education and went on to serve 21 years in the U.S. Marines, later earning aeronautical engineering degrees and working in positions for Boeing and Ford Motor Company.
Despite the apparent mix-up over the patch, Bazzi told the local Fox affiliate he was proud of the police department’s efforts in the community.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more. He also spent 15 years as a Detroit journalist and lived for a time in Dearborn.
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