By Shirley Ng, AsAmNews Staff Writer
In September, Deputy Inspector Stewart Loo of the new NYPD Asian Hate Crime Task Force got word of an incident that occurred in Chinatown’s Columbus Park. He arranged Detective Patrick Lee to meet Amy and her 79- year-old Chinese mother, Michele, at the NYPD 5th Precinct in Chinatown on a Saturday in October. It was Michele and Amy’s first time in a police precinct.
“My mom was scared and didn’t report it to the police. She did report it to a park employee, but it’s not clear if the employee made a report.”
Michele was sitting on a bench in Chinatown’s Columbus Park in September when a maskless teenager hugged her from behind and kissed her on the cheek. She immediately ran to the bathroom to wash her face, as the teen followed her and banged on the bathroom doored.
Michele did not tell Amy what happened until a week later. Alarmed, Amy took her mom immediately to get a COVID test. The results came back negative.
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In their hour-long meeting in October, Lee wrote a report on the details of the incident from his interview with the two women. The three of them also walked to Columbus Park just two blocks from the precinct so Michele could show Lee where she sat and how the incident occurred. In the end, Lee felt the suspect may be emotionally disturbed and that the incident was not a hate crime.
“Detective Lee was a gentleman. Some cops weren’t very courteous. Some want to assert themselves, which is why people don’t go to cops. I’m impressed with the task force, ” Amy said about her experience.
In an NBC article published in September, Sung Yeon Choimorrow, executive director of the nonprofit National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum criticized the task force.
“I think this is one of those things where they’re putting a Band-Aid on a situation where I feel like there’s a lot more that can be done to address deeper issues,” Choimorrow told NBC.
She and Kham Moua, of the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, are both skeptical the task force will do much to protect the Asian community and want legislators do more. They believe education is also key to prevent further hate crime towards Asians and that more can be done.
“Yes, a lot more can be done,” Loo said, in response to the NBC article.
“‘Journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Formation of the Task Force is that first step, it signifies real progress and we celebrate it,” he told AsAmNews.
The critics also feel the task force is not able to reduce or prevent COVID-19 related hate crimes on Asians. Another group, the Asian American Feminist Collective, wrote in Tweet, “We don’t support any initiative that expands the power of police nor do we believe in carceral responses to address racial violence.”
However, there are individuals that made supportive comments on Facebook.
“The Task Force consists of all first generation Asian Americans. These are individuals who come from the community to help the community. We are here to help the victims of these crimes, often the victims are traumatized by these incidents and feel helpless and scared. The first step in making them whole and getting their life back is to get them justice. The victims we deal with are very happy with the Task Force and it has overwhelming support from the community,’ Loo told AsAmNews.
Just four months since it began, the NYPD announced in September the task force is now permanent. It was created as a response to the rise in COVID-19 related hate crime towards Asians. The task force of 25 detectives of Asian descent speak a combination of 10 languages; Mandarin, Cantonese, Fuzhounese, Taishainese, Wenzhounese, Shanghainese, Taiwanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Tagalog. The familiar languages would allow the detectives to easily engage and connect with the Asian American community and the victims to connect with law enforcement and not be fearful of making a police report.
In a CNN interview JoAnn Yoo, executive director of the Asian American Federation, welcomed the task force, but would like more measures to be implemented to prevent hate crimes from occurring.
Amy on the critics; ” I do not have any negative comments about the Asian Hate Crime Task Force. I respect their initiative and efforts. If anything, they need more support from other city agencies and community based organizations in New York.”
When the NYPD announced the Asian Hate Crime Task Force in August, Loo said in the press conference, “This hits home to me. I have friends and family that are legitimately afraid to go outside because they fear for their safety. Asians have been historically targeted at a disproportionate rate.”
After Amy and her mother met Lee, she sent a Loo a text message.
” I would like to thank you very much for helping my Mom with her harassment case. Sergeant Hom and Detective Lee treated my mom with a great deal of respect and dignity. I have never met an Asian American officer, detective, sergeant or deputy, it means a great deal to have each of you serve. We greatly appreciate you and the team’s professionalism and respect that you illustrate to our vulnerable community members, especially our elders. We have a great deal of admiration and respect for you and your service.”
Amy also wrote to New York Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou and Council Member, Margaret Chin to do more to protect the Chinese senior population in Chinatown.
When Loo was a young boy, his father was a victim of robbery as a food delivery worker.
When asked about how his parents feel about his work, Loo replied, “My mom and my late father would be extremely proud and happy.”
The names of the the victim and her daughter has been changed to protect their identities.
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