DPS holds social at City Park apartments
The Dept. of Public Safety hosted a social at City Park apartments on Saturday aimed at providing safety tips for international students and an opportunity to discuss their safety concerns.
Safety first · Captain Jennifer Thomas of the Los Angeles Police Department Harbor Division speaks to students at a security meeting hosted by the Dept. of Public Safety on Saturday at City Park apartments. – Photo courtesy of DPS officer Kenneth Whittaker
In July, Xinran Ji, a second-year electrical engineering graduate student, was found dead in the apartment complex after being assaulted a few blocks away.
“We wanted to assure his friends that we do care, that we’re concerned about their safety and that as a result of that tragedy we want to work with them to make for a better, safer community,” said DPS Chief John Thomas. “We want to bridge the gap and have open lines of communication and develop a relationship with the international students that’s better than it’s been.”
The event featured Captain Jennifer Thomas of the Los Angeles Police Department Harbor Division. Thomas, who immigrated to the United States as a teenager, is the first Chinese female lieutenant and captain in LAPD history.
Thomas spoke in both English and Mandarin about the importance of understanding one’s surroundings and being aware, particularly when walking alone. With volunteers from the audience she demonstrated that a student talking, texting or looking at the ground while walking is more susceptible to attack. Thomas said safety is often a heightened concern for international students who don’t know the area and could also encounter a language barrier.
“I think the problem is just not being aware of their surroundings and some of the cultural differences,” Thomas said.
But Thomas said she hopes to serve as both a friendly face and a role model for students.
“I’m not 6 feet tall, I’m not 250 pounds, but I had the dream of becoming a police officer, and if I can keep myself safe and physically fit, I think they can relate to me more,” she said. “As a woman immigrant to this country, being able to pursue my dream, just because I’m a Chinese woman, I think it does bridge that gap to see that they can take on their own security and be safe.”
City Park resident and first-year graduate student in public administration Qianmin Ding said that after hearing about the death of three Chinese students in the past two years, being educated on how to stay safe was very important to her as an international student from China.
“It’s a really big concern for me because I usually stay late at the library,” Ding said. “[The event] resolved my sense of safety and I’ll watch out more in the future.”
Elvy Fuentes, a senior majoring in human biology, is also a resident of City Park, and though she’s not an international student, she said she was surprised and grateful that DPS took the initiative to talk to students. Still, she said what happened to Ji could happen to anyone, and it’s important for the community as a whole to have knowledge of how to stay safe.
“[Ji] could have lived anywhere around the area, so it’s not just City Park,” she said. “But I think if anything, this helps with awareness. The more aware you are of your surroundings and the more aware you are of the resources you have at school, the more protected you are.”
DPS Community Relations Officer Elizabeth Carreño said she had the idea just a few weeks ago that students might be more receptive to listening to DPS if officers came to them.
“I thought about numbers,” Carreño said. “I wanted there to be about 10 or 15 officers and there’s 500 tenants, so I thought it was easier for us to come to them.”
Thomas said though DPS events on campus tend to have low turnout, he was pleased with Saturday’s event, which hosted more than 50 attendees. He said it was also an opportunity for him to directly address student concerns and he plans to hold similar events in the future.
One student mentioned that the CSC officer previously stationed at his apartment was not patrolling the area as much, and the student no longer felt safe. Thomas promised to try to address student concerns wherever possible.
“These are examples of concerns I would not have gotten if we hadn’t been here,” Thomas said. “I think it’s time for us to think outside the box and we’re going to go where students are. We’ll do [events] on Saturdays. We’ll go to their residence[s]. I just want to make it convenient for the students.”