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A Sample of Community Response to the Chinatown Meeting
“I think the meeting was productive. There will be a civilian officer, there’ll be a space where victims if they need to, they can run to, instead of looking for roaming officers. Sometimes the phones are stolen, and they can’t just grab the nearest stranger and ask for help. So they need a place to run to. In this particular case, it’ll be good to have a physical space and presence. I think it’s important.”
John Tinpe, Commissioner, ANC 2C-01
“I think they vacated the [Gallery Place] space before they found another space, which is where lots of confusion is. They need to keep that space until they get a new space. And if they hire somebody in the meantime, I don’t know where they are going to put them if they don’t want to use that space.
Kevin Wilsey, Commissioner, ANC 2C-03
“I thought it was a very constructive and productive meeting. I think it cleared out a lot of misunderstandings. The intentions are really good, finding a better solution that’s satisfactory to everybody. I think it was very productive. Thank you very much for covering this. Other people are not giving this attention.”
Dwan Tai, Allies Building Community, Inc.
“The closure of the Chinatown office would remove an important visible landmark of police and community cooperation and respect. That is why its closure cannot be precipitous and why a fast solution to install a telephone and monitor at a desk anywhere will not do. Why not assign the new position to the current office site, for which the police still have a lease until June 2014?
While the floor space at the current office site is too large, nothing precludes down-sizing to a third or fourth of its current size and allowing the landlord to take back and use the rest of the space. Placing the new worker there provides for several months. This may actually redefine the space requirements from the current understanding that all that is needed is a desk for a reporting station.”
Ted Gong, President, DC lodge, Chinese American Citizens Alliance
