Asian Fortune Your source for all things Asian American
By Dottie Tiejun Li
Washington, D.C.—Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy L. Lanier and Chinatown’s business and neighborhood leaders have been struggling to find common ground since December when the Department cleaned out the longtime, but under-utilized, headquarters of the special Asian Liaison Unit (ALU) on H Street, close by the ceremonial arch. At a meeting January 7, the Chief faced a barrage of questions from attendees who feel she backtracked on what they viewed as her promise to hold on to the ground floor office at Gallery Place
At an earlier community meeting, held December 5, the Chief faced a community shocked and confused that the police substation at 616 H Street, NW, was being vacated without notice. Opened as a headquarters for MPD’s Asian Liaison Unit, the space had been provided by Gallery Place under a free, ten year lease since 2004. But the site had fallen into disuse in recent years as the officers expanded their presence citywide and spent little time there. Advances in communications and computing technology have speeded up the move to “community policing,” which keeps officers on the streets and away from desks. Chief Lanier boosted police patrols of Chinatown with a ten-member unit of regular officers, who have kept the once high neighborhood crime rate in check.
At the December meeting, the Chief appeared to reverse her original decision to give the space back to Gallery Place, after residents and business owners pleaded with her to maintain the police facility where it is, however underused, in the heart of Chinatown. Some expressed fear of a rise in crime, while others mourned a symbolic blow to the neighborhood’s cultural identity if the Asian Liaison Unit is officially based elsewhere. (ALU officers currently maintain their personal lockers in the First District HQ, outside Chinatown.)
“We certainly do understand how much the people of this community feel some ownership of the unit, and that’s why we’ve asked Gallery Place if we could keep that insignia and keep that space here, which they’re willing to do,” she said that night. “There’s no plans to plans to pull out of Chinatown,” she continued. “There’s no plans to even take the symbols, the markings of the Asian Liaison Unit down and away from the people and the community that fought for it.”
The Chief also said at the first meeting she would explore the possibility of hiring a “community liaison civilian” to staff the office, and promised to consult with the Chinatown community about long-term plans for a police workstation. The meeting seemed to mollify most of the 100 or so in attendance.
The truce was short-lived, however, when it became apparent almost immediately that the Liaison office had been cleared out, and insignia stripped away. As upset members of the community seethed, another meeting was called between the Chief and top business and community leaders at the Chinese Cultural Community Center, a flight of stairs above the now-deserted headquarters.
At the second meeting, Chief Lanier said she received authorization to hire a civilian liaison in Chinatown and tried to focus on the department’s search for a new “workstation,” for the person, which she described as “a desk, a chair, a computer and a phone.” She said the police have been in touch with about 30 facilities in “the Chinatown area” but only two, a senior center and a church, expressed interest in hosting a police workstation. That got a cool response from the Chinatown leaders, as neither location is in what they consider Chinatown proper. The Chief expressed hope it would not take more than two months to staff a Chinatown desk somewhere. But question after question returned to the old space, and why it could not be used now.
Stephanie Cheng, executive director of the Chinatown Cultural Community Center was one of many who called on the Chief to explain what she characterized as a contradiction between her December 5 statements and subsequent actions.
“I’m still confused,” Cheng said. “Everyone who attended the last meeting had the impression you were going to keep the unit downstairs until the end of the lease, and I’m trying to figure out why we’re spending so much energy trying to
The meeting seemed to mollify most of the 100 or so in attendance.
The truce was short-lived, however, when it became apparent almost immediately that the Liaison office had been cleared out, and insignia stripped away. As upset members of the community seethed, another meeting was called between the Chief and top business and community leaders at the Chinese Cultural Community Center, a flight of stairs above the now-deserted headquarters.
At the second meeting, Chief Lanier said she received authorization to hire a civilian liaison in Chinatown and tried to focus on the department’s search for a new “workstation,” for the person, which she described as “a desk, a chair, a computer and a phone.” She said the police have been in touch with about 30 facilities in “the Chinatown area” but only two, a senior center and a church, expressed interest in hosting a police workstation. That got a cool response from the Chinatown leaders, as neither location is in what they consider Chinatown proper. The Chief expressed hope it would not take more than two months to staff a Chinatown desk somewhere. But question after question returned to the old space, and why it could not be used now.
Stephanie Cheng, executive director of the Chinatown Cultural Community Center was one of many who called on the Chief to explain what she characterized as a contradiction between her December 5 statements and subsequent actions.
“I’m still confused,” Cheng said. “Everyone who attended the last meeting had the impression you were going to keep the unit downstairs until the end of the lease, and I’m trying to figure out why we’re spending so much energy trying to find new space when there’s a location downstairs until 2014.”
But the Chief repeatedly refused to say why the empty offices could not host the new civilian liaison, answering the question by pointing back in time to years of underutilization: “Nobody has occupied that space for years.”
“We feel abandoned,” declared Meta Yee, a Chinatown building owner who said crime rates dropped when the police station signs went up. “Why can’t the civilian working at a desk work out of that same space? It gives the impression there’s a force behind that desk.”
Community volunteer Jocelyn Shen was polite, but pointed, in trying to get the chief to explain why her words and actions did not seem to her to match up. Here is part of their dialogue:
Shen: “Why even commit to the things that were said at the last meeting, why commit to it, why pacify us?”
Lanier: “What did I say that I did not do?”
Shen: “What you said was, you were going to keep everything in place until the space was…” Lanier (interrupting): “What I said was, I’d ask for an extension, and I did ask for an extension, which Gallery Place has given me. So the lease, so the space has not yet been turned completely back over… Once we have that alternate space, we’re going to turn that space back over to Gallery Place.”
But that answer does not explain why MPD continues to hold onto the lease, especially if the Chief will not use it. However, she may have inadvertently cleared up one question quietly vexing some of the community leaders. They were mystified about the new job listing, wondering why she kept saying she was saving the city money by closing down the Gallery Place office, which cost about $1,400 per month in utilities and operating expenses, when she had to create a new $70,000 a year job to deal with the fallout.
They got an answer when the Chief, increasingly frustrated with the questioning, blurted out, “Honestly, the only reason I’m putting in a workstation is because the community asked for it.” She added, “There is no need for a workstation or a station. We’re moving away from stations altogether in policing in the entire United States.”
And then, “The reason I’m agreeing to do it is because I heard from the community that they want something that has a sign, that’s symbolic here for Chinatown, and I agree. I can do something that’s something I can do that does not impact policing and makes a gesture to the community that we do care.”
Some in the audience expressed exasperation with the chief for refusing to answer why the new staffer could not work out of the Gallery Place space until another place is arranged. For her part, Chief Lanier seemed to feel some were not appreciating that the police presence in Chinatown will not change, regardless of the office’s status. “You will always see a uniformed police officer in Chinatown,” she affirmed. “This is the one why she kept saying she was saving the city money by closing down the Gallery Place office, which cost about $1,400 per month in utilities and operating expenses, when she had to create a new $70,000 a year job to deal with the fallout.
They got an answer when the Chief, increasingly frustrated with the questioning, blurted out, “Honestly, the only reason I’m putting in a workstation is because the community asked for it.” She added, “There is no need for a workstation or a station. We’re moving away from stations altogether in policing in the entire United States.”
And then, “The reason I’m agreeing to do it is because I heard from the community that they want something that has a sign, that’s symbolic here for Chinatown, and I agree. I can do something that’s something I can do that does not impact policing and makes a gesture to the community that we do care.”
Some in the audience expressed exasperation with the chief for refusing to answer why the new staffer could not work out of the Gallery Place space until another place is arranged. For her part, Chief Lanier seemed to feel some were not appreciating that the police presence in Chinatown will not change, regardless of the office’s status. “You will always see a uniformed police officer in Chinatown,” she affirmed. “This is the one community I can tell you that. We dedicated a team of officers to Chinatown. We have dedicated a lot of resources.”
If any new information comes from a community meeting scheduled for February 4, Asian Fortune will make it available on our website. Please check back with us.
For information on the background and work of the Asian Liaison Unit, see “Life on the Street With the Asian Liaison Unit” and other coverage on the Controversy of ALU.
