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| Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo met with Asian/American media about crime |
FIFTY SUSPECTS -- 50 -- were arrested for their crimes against the Asian/American community in Sacramento.
In U.S. cities, including San Jose, Calif., Los Angeles, Houston, Philadelphia and New York City, criminals are targetting Asian/Americans with home invasions, burglaries at home and businesses, assaults in the streets and sometimes right in front of their homes as they go to their cars.
Hate incidents against Asian/Americans, while also on the rise, shouldn't be confused with the crimes being commited, usually, for monetary gains.
There seems to be a belief among the more unsavory elements of American society that Asian/Americans are easy pickings. The stereotype is so prevalent that a popular rapper has a song outlining how to encouraging attacks against Asians.
Sacramento police last week announced the arrests of 50 people in a crime spree against Asian/Americans that has gone on for at least two years.
The Sacramento Bee reports the announcement was made during a community forum organized by police to allay fears in the community.
The number arrested is more than two times the 20 arrests announced in October of 2016.
“Know your neighbors and look out for each other,” said Detective John Fan. “This is one of the biggest reasons we’ve seen such a big decease in (robberies in) the Stockton Boulevard and Elder Creek area.”
Fox 40 reports police kept cameras out of the latest meeting in hopes that new victims might come forward
A spike in crime last year was blamed on robberies who were following the smell of marijuana and mistakenly believed the homes they hit had pot grows.
They admit they are struggling to come up with a motive for this year’s crime wave, although they suspect thieves believe Asians keep lots of money in their homes.
“We were able to purchase PODS, police operated devices, that we were able to strategically locate along Stockton Boulevard,” said Frank Louie of the Stockton Boulevard Property Business Improvement District in explaining how they were able to stop last year’s spree.
Police say most of the suspects in custody are in their teens and early 20’s and come from various ethnic backgrounds.
Police in San Jose, Calif. have arrested a suspect accused of targeting East Indians and Asian women. Lawrence Carter has been booked on three counts of robbery, two counts of elder abuse, assault with a deadly weapon and vandalism.
It’s part of a series of at least seven armed and strong armed robberies of gold chains between July and September in San Jose.
It’s unclear if there are any other suspects in these cases.
Asian/Americans in the Sacramento region first raised alarm bells about a sudden spike in crime in 2016. Numerous arrests were made, but the trend appears to be continuing.
In New York, the spate of attacks against Asian Americans in New York City prompted a letter from Rep. Grace Meng, D-NY.
“The rise in crime against the Asian-American community is very troubling,” U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), who represents Queens where one-in-four residents is Asian, said in a statement. “We hope that after receiving our letter, the NYPD will determine why this is occurring and make every effort to combat this disturbing spike in criminal activity."
Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), whose district includes parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan’s Chinatown, called the recent statistics on crime rates in New York’s Asian/American communities troubling.
“We expect [the] NYPD to not only examine these trends but propose tangible solutions to address this problem,” Velazquez said in a statement.
The attacks on Asian/American businesses in Philadelphia led to Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney to revive the Council on Asian American Affairs to address the attacks against the community.
According to police statistics from 2015, 16 percent of Philadelphia's home invasion robberies were committed against Asian households, far disproportionate to the overall population.
Asian/Americans in Philadelphia hope that crimes against their community and businesses will show a decrease after the sentencing of two men who had been targeting busineses in the area.
Karin Wang, spokeswoman for Los Angeles-based Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ), which has launched a website, Standagainsthatred.org, to help document, track and share experiences such as Lee’s.
“Our goal is not just to have a place where we can share stories, but also … give people advice about complaints and legal actions they may be able to file,” Wang said.
“The rise in crime against the Asian-American community is very troubling,” U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), who represents Queens where one-in-four residents is Asian, said in a statement. “We hope that after receiving our letter, the NYPD will determine why this is occurring and make every effort to combat this disturbing spike in criminal activity."
Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), whose district includes parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan’s Chinatown, called the recent statistics on crime rates in New York’s Asian/American communities troubling.
“We expect [the] NYPD to not only examine these trends but propose tangible solutions to address this problem,” Velazquez said in a statement.
The attacks on Asian/American businesses in Philadelphia led to Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney to revive the Council on Asian American Affairs to address the attacks against the community.
According to police statistics from 2015, 16 percent of Philadelphia's home invasion robberies were committed against Asian households, far disproportionate to the overall population.
Asian/Americans in Philadelphia hope that crimes against their community and businesses will show a decrease after the sentencing of two men who had been targeting busineses in the area.
Karin Wang, spokeswoman for Los Angeles-based Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ), which has launched a website, Standagainsthatred.org, to help document, track and share experiences such as Lee’s.
“Our goal is not just to have a place where we can share stories, but also … give people advice about complaints and legal actions they may be able to file,” Wang said.
Language and cultural barriers may be preventing some victims from reporting the crimes. Not only do limited-English speaking Asians resluctant to approach authorities, they may come from countries where police are viewed as oppressors or are corrupt. Criminals also believe that Asian/Americans distrust banks and keep large amounts of cash at home.
The idea of Asians as easy targets is perpetuated by a rap song. A song by YG aka Keenon Daequan Ray Jackson has drawn protests from the Chinese community because its lyrics seem to give step-by-step instructions in how to commit a home invasion against Asian/Americans.
The lyrics in one of his lesser known songs, “Meet the Flockers,” have incited protests by Chinese-Americans across the country.
“This isn’t new, I think it’s just elevated a little bit more,” Nguyen continued. “I think it’s because in our community we’ve been so silent all the time. Things like this had to happen, it’s just never been reported. It makes me happy to hear that our community is finally going forward and actually making noise, saying things, asking, and demanding our leadership to be able to provide more resources and services to our community. "
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First, you find a house and scope it out.
Find a Chinese neighborhood, cause they don’t believe in bank accounts
Second, you find a crew and a driver, someone who ring the doorbell. And someone that ain’t scared to do what it do.
“The problem is our community is getting robbed, burglarized, they’re getting their purses snatched, folks are coming into their house when they’re at home and beating them up, taking money, taking jewelry, somehow they know that these families have it in their house and going after them,” said Stephanie Nguyen, executive director of the Asian Resources Community Center in Sacramento. “We get a lot of clients coming through our door telling us the things that have happened to them but they’re never vocal about it. They share with us the story in confidence.”Third, you pull up at the spot. Park, watch, ring the doorbell and knock.
“This isn’t new, I think it’s just elevated a little bit more,” Nguyen continued. “I think it’s because in our community we’ve been so silent all the time. Things like this had to happen, it’s just never been reported. It makes me happy to hear that our community is finally going forward and actually making noise, saying things, asking, and demanding our leadership to be able to provide more resources and services to our community. "
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