On September 12, 80 Northside Hmong residents met with City Councilmembers Don Samuels and Barb Johnson at Farview Park. The Hmong said they wanted a Hmong police officer to work on the day shift in the 4th Precinct, which covers North Minneapolis.
7,000 Hmong live in North Minneapolis; 72.8 percent of the total Minneapolis Hmong population. However only two Hmong officers work in North Minneapolis, and both work late at night. No Hmong officers work in North Minneapolis during the day and early night. The other six Minneapolis Hmong police officers serve in the 1st and 5th precincts (downtown and southwest Minneapolis), but less than 3 percent of Minneapolis Hmong live in these two precincts.
A year ago, a newly-arrived Hmong family was being terrorized by neighborhood youth - who threw rocks through windows, hit family members, kicked holes in the walls, urinated in the vestibule, and tagged the inside of the building with disgusting pornographic gang graffiti. The family spoke very little English, and repeatedly requested to meet with a Minneapolis Hmong police officer in the 4th Precinct. This request was never met.
The Minneapolis Police Department's inability to provide a Hmong officer led Northside Hmong residents to partner with the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council, which sponsored a University of Minnesota study on the numbers and deployment of Hmong police in Minneapolis.
Hmong families believe that it is essential to have Hmong officers because many elderly Hmong speak limited English. A Hmong officer would be able to overcome this language barrier and effectively assist Hmong residents with their needs.
All of the Hmong families interviewed for the study described crimes committed against them or against relatives and Hmong friends which were never reported to police. The most common reason for not reporting these crimes was that these Hmong individuals spoke little to no English; consequently many were too intimidated to request assistance from the police. Many Hmong also indicated that they felt more comfortable talking with a police officer who shared their culture.
A number of Hmong residents have said that if a Hmong police officer had participated in a recent botched drug raid at the Khang house on Logan Ave. N., the resulting shootout might have been prevented. The police were on an assignment to raid an alleged drug house occupied by African Americans. The Khang household had numerous Hmong cultural identifiers, including shoes outside the door, shamanistic gold metallic foil and red rectangles on the front door, pictures on the wall with Hmong uniforms and Hmong traditional clothing, a Hmong shamanistic altar, a picture of General Vang Pao, and a rice cooker in the kitchen. Upon seeing these Hmong cultural indicators, a Hmong police officer would have likely realized that they were in a Hmong house, and not in an African American home. In addition, a Hmong police officer would have been able to communicate immediately with the Hmong father, when the father first challenged the police in the Hmong language. Perhaps, the Hmong officer could have stopped the raid before the 22 bullets were fired. Six children were in the house.
The city is paying the Khang family $600,000 in compensation. One Hmong family told meeting goers that they have a relative who is in training to become a Minneapolis police officer, and is currently doing field work in the 5th Precinct. Meeting goers voted unanimously that when he becomes a full police officer, they want him stationed on the Northside during the day shift.
Councilmembers Samuels and Johnson agreed to work with the Hmong residents to get more Hmong police on the Northside, and to set up a meeting between Northside Hmong and Chief Dolan. See the report at http://www.mcno.umn.edu/documents/Hmong_Police_Report_000.pdf. For other info contact Jay Clark at 612-625-2513 or clark037@umn
