Shoot First, Hire Culturally Sensitive Police Officers Later

Neela Banerjee
September 14, 2005

Back in August, police officers fatally shot two Korean men in Dublin, California while responding to an alleged domestic dispute. This shooting has galvanized the Asian American community -- once again -- and many believe that the use of deadly force was unnecessary. This confused-police-officers-reaching-for-guns issue has happens over and over in Asian American and Latin communities. Recent cases include a 1997 shooting in Rohnert Park of Kuan Chung Kao -- who was armed with a wooden stick, the 2003 shooting of Cau Tran in San Jose -- who was armed with a vegetable peeler, and last year's shooting of Rudy Cardenas in San Jose, who was unarmed. The Asian American community has been coming together to organize across ethnic lines around this issue. There will be a candlelight vigil on Sept. 20th at the Dublin City Hall.

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hmmmm wrote on Wed, 09/14/2005 - 8:23pm
"...This confused-police-officers-reaching-for-guns issue has happens over and over in Asian American and Latin communities...."Um, not to mention (apparently) the far more numerous incidents in black communities?
Neela wrote on Wed, 09/14/2005 - 9:55pm
I agree that this problem does happen a lot in black communities, and in those cases there is no pretense of "cultural misunderstanding" when it comes to using deadly force. But in all three of the Asian cases mentioned, the "language" problem that the police use as an excuse in pretty troubling.
Amy wrote on Thu, 09/15/2005 - 10:41am
I'm not sure what to think about this case. This is my hometown after all; it's a suburban town, predominantly white yet has been growing more diverse over the years as the housing boom attracts new residents. Generally there isn't much crime here, which I think creates an environment where the police overreact to serious situations.