In order to encourage young people in the Asian community to participate in public safety, the New York City Police Department held a police recruitment promotion event at Tangram Shopping Center in Flushing on the afternoon of the 21st, attracting a large number of students and families to participate. The event was jointly organized by the New York Police Department, the Asian Jade Society, the Asian American Senior Police Officers Association (AAPEX), the Flushing Chinese (Business) Promotion Association (FCBA) and Tangram, aiming to increase the participation of Asians and promote the construction of an ethnically diverse law enforcement team.
Sylvester Ge, deputy commissioner of the New York City Police Department’s Transportation Bureau and a one-star deputy superintendent of Chinese descent, said that the event was held in Flushing because it is one of the communities with the highest concentration of Chinese people. “We hope to let more people understand the actual work of the police, and encourage young people to start from early programs such as the Cadet Program and Explorers, and gradually get to know or even join the police department.”
Sylvester Ge said that there were multiple police departments participating on the scene, including the Traffic Division, the Special Operations Unit (ESU), the Highway Department, the Mountain Rangers, the Explorer & Cadet Corps, the Recruiting Unit, and the Asian Community Police Officers Association, etc., showing the diversity of the police department and multi-channel career paths. He also admitted that there are currently more than 30,000 uniformed and armed police officers in the city, but the actual manpower is still short of thousands of people. The participation of Asian police officers will help improve community communication and cultural understanding.
Peter Du, chief consultant of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, said that FCBA has maintained a cooperative relationship with the police for many years and felt obliged to be invited to co-organize this event. “Public security is crucial to community and economic development. As long as the police need it, we will definitely help if we can.” He said, “We also hope that through such activities, more young people will be brave enough to take on social responsibilities and engage in public service.” He also reminded that to establish an effective connection with the Chinese community, priority should be given to cultural understanding and law enforcement sensitivity, rather than a single ethnic ratio. “Sometimes it doesn’t matter whether it is a Chinese police officer, but whether the police really understand our community.” The event also set up raffles and giveaway booths, attracting many families to stop and participate. Many participants said that through face-to-face exchanges with current Asian police officers, they not only had a deeper understanding of the diverse functions of the police station, but also increased their interest and confidence in devoting themselves to law enforcement.
