Deputy Inspector Hsiao “Stewart” Loo.
NYPD Photo
By Shirley Ng, AsAmNews Staff Writer
Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison announced the new Asian Hate Crime Task force comprised of 25 Asian American investigators from the New York Police Department to address the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes Tuesday. He said there has been 21 anti-Asian hate crimes since March in New York, resulting in 17 arrests.
The task force was first introduced in May to Harrison, by Deputy Inspector Hsiao “Stewart” Loo. They say eliminating language barriers and cultural differences to gain the victims’ and complaintants’ cooperation would be vital to investigations.
“This hits home to me,” Loo said who is active in the Asian American community. “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.”
The formation of the Asian Hate Crime Task force addresses the concerns Loo sees on social media, that “no one cares (about Asians), that the sentiment in the Asian Americans community is that “not enough is being done, and that the Asian American voice doesn’t matter, but this force we are saying otherwise. That we are equal and we do matter.”
He said he noticed a “disturbing trend” of many social media videos of Asian Americans verbally harassed and physically assaulted just for being Asian and that it wasn’t happening just in New York, but worldwide. He spoke about a video on social media he saw of a couple in Brooklyn being harassed and then assaulted. He searched for the police report, but there wasn’t any. He was able to reach out to the victims, but they did not want be take part in the investigation. It wasn’t till NYPD officers Danny Zheng and Michael Moy tracked down the victims and got their cooperation for an investigation, which resulted in an arrest.
The Asian Hate Crime Task Crime Force is a “milestone” according to Loo. The investigators speak three different languages. Typically investigators use NYPD certified translators, but they are not able to build rapport, break any barriers nor play a role in the investigation nor think like an investigator.
The Asian Hate Crime Task Force is permanent and may be lead to other ethnic task forces.
With this new Asian Hate Crime Task Force, hopefully more Asian Americans in New York will now make more police reports. It has been a systemic problem of underreporting from Asian Americans, not just due to language barriers, cultural differences or the mistrust of the NYPD, but because they fear their immigration status will be challenged and be deported. The city, however does not ask about the immigration status of crime victims or witnesses.
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