By Mark Bowes
Contact Mark Bowes at (804) 649-6450 or mbowes@timesdispatch.com .
Published: September 15, 2009
Are criminals targeting local Asian-American merchants and their employees?
Alarmed about a series of Chinese-food delivery-driver robberies in recent months, two of them fatal, that question arose last night during a gathering of local law-enforcement officials and the area's Asian-American community.
"Why is the Asian-American community being targeted?" one man asked bluntly. "Is it the way we look, is it the way we deliver food?"
Richmond Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood quickly spoke up. "It's a crime of opportunity rather than demographics."
Area criminals aren't practicing any "cultural bias" in the people they rob, he said, noting the city is experiencing a general uptick in robberies.
A dozen law-enforcement officials from Richmond, Ashland and the counties of Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico fielded questions and traded suggestions with more than 30 members of the region's Asian-American community at the Henrico Training Center on Parham Road.
Concerned residents representing local segments of the Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Cambodian, Malaysian, Thai and American Indian communities turned out to discuss how they could better work with police in making their businesses and neighborhoods safer.
The gathering was called to address the string of delivery-driver holdups in Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield dating to the April 12 attempted robbery and killing of a Chinese-food deliveryman in Henrico. Last week, Richmond police ar rested a city teenager in the July 27 slaying of a Chinese-food deliveryman in the Whitcomb Court public-housing complex.
Angela Chiang, of the Central Virginia chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans, suggested that police provide merchants specific crime-prevention steps that can be passed on to delivery drivers to help reduce crime. Resolving some of the still-unsolved robberies and slayings also would help and would decrease the perception that local Asian-Americans are easy targets, she said.
Samuel Nuon, active in the local Cambodian community, asked police if they could provide bilingual cards in Cambodian and Thai with local police contacts and their numbers. That might help members of those communities become more involved and better-equipped to help police, he said.
Tinh Duc Phan, chairman of the Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce and the Virginia Asian Foundation, praised the police officials in attendance for the speed at which they agreed to meet with Asian-Americans.
Phan, who helped organize last night's event, said the Asian-American community needs to focus on how it is going to work with police in sending a strong message to the public that "criminals don't mess with the Asians." Otherwise, they will continue to be perceived as easy prey, he said.
"The triggering point [was] the shooting" of the delivery drivers, he said. "But the long-term viability of our community is more important."
Col. H.W. Stanley Jr., the police chief for Henrico, said Asian-restaurant owners might need to rethink some of their business practices to make their operations more safe. Using caller ID to verify a customer's identity and telephone number, and calling that number back for confirmation, might be one step, he said.
"I'm also concerned about the time of the day" that some deliveries are being made, he said.
Norwood added later that restaurant owners might want to consider doubling the number of people making a delivery. "It hardens the target, so to speak," and allows two people instead of one to assess a potentially risky situation.
Participants also suggested building the trust between police and the community, inviting police presentatives to Asian-American functions, establishing liaisons between the two groups, creating a language bank and providing intercultural training for police and residents.
"We need to get back to basics," Phan said.
Contact Mark Bowes at (804) 649-6450 or mbowes@timesdispatch.com .
Published: September 15, 2009
Are criminals targeting local Asian-American merchants and their employees?
Alarmed about a series of Chinese-food delivery-driver robberies in recent months, two of them fatal, that question arose last night during a gathering of local law-enforcement officials and the area's Asian-American community.
"Why is the Asian-American community being targeted?" one man asked bluntly. "Is it the way we look, is it the way we deliver food?"
Richmond Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood quickly spoke up. "It's a crime of opportunity rather than demographics."
Area criminals aren't practicing any "cultural bias" in the people they rob, he said, noting the city is experiencing a general uptick in robberies.
A dozen law-enforcement officials from Richmond, Ashland and the counties of Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico fielded questions and traded suggestions with more than 30 members of the region's Asian-American community at the Henrico Training Center on Parham Road.
Concerned residents representing local segments of the Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Cambodian, Malaysian, Thai and American Indian communities turned out to discuss how they could better work with police in making their businesses and neighborhoods safer.
The gathering was called to address the string of delivery-driver holdups in Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield dating to the April 12 attempted robbery and killing of a Chinese-food deliveryman in Henrico. Last week, Richmond police ar rested a city teenager in the July 27 slaying of a Chinese-food deliveryman in the Whitcomb Court public-housing complex.
Angela Chiang, of the Central Virginia chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans, suggested that police provide merchants specific crime-prevention steps that can be passed on to delivery drivers to help reduce crime. Resolving some of the still-unsolved robberies and slayings also would help and would decrease the perception that local Asian-Americans are easy targets, she said.
Samuel Nuon, active in the local Cambodian community, asked police if they could provide bilingual cards in Cambodian and Thai with local police contacts and their numbers. That might help members of those communities become more involved and better-equipped to help police, he said.
Tinh Duc Phan, chairman of the Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce and the Virginia Asian Foundation, praised the police officials in attendance for the speed at which they agreed to meet with Asian-Americans.
Phan, who helped organize last night's event, said the Asian-American community needs to focus on how it is going to work with police in sending a strong message to the public that "criminals don't mess with the Asians." Otherwise, they will continue to be perceived as easy prey, he said.
"The triggering point [was] the shooting" of the delivery drivers, he said. "But the long-term viability of our community is more important."
Col. H.W. Stanley Jr., the police chief for Henrico, said Asian-restaurant owners might need to rethink some of their business practices to make their operations more safe. Using caller ID to verify a customer's identity and telephone number, and calling that number back for confirmation, might be one step, he said.
"I'm also concerned about the time of the day" that some deliveries are being made, he said.
Norwood added later that restaurant owners might want to consider doubling the number of people making a delivery. "It hardens the target, so to speak," and allows two people instead of one to assess a potentially risky situation.
Participants also suggested building the trust between police and the community, inviting police presentatives to Asian-American functions, establishing liaisons between the two groups, creating a language bank and providing intercultural training for police and residents.
"We need to get back to basics," Phan said.
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