Watching out for their own

An employee of Kim’s House was gunned down last month as he left the Chinese restaurant on the 2700 block of Snyder Avenue.

The shooter left the 25-year-old victim in critical condition after firing three shots, striking him in the abdomen and leg, police said. Since nothing was taken from the victim, investigators don’t believe robbery was the motive.

Earlier this year, two scam artists managed to con a 39-year-old Asian woman out of $2,000 by promising to share "found" money. Investigators say the victim fell prey due to a language barrier.

And in December, a 19-year-old Cambodian-American college student was slain defending his mother’s grocery store at 17th and Moore against two armed assailants. The Citizens Crime Commission has offered a $10,000 reward leading to the capture of Luckily Ky’s killers.

"Crime against Asians, including Asian-on-Asian crimes, is a problem, and it’s been on the rise," said Brad Baldia, a second-generation Filipino and community organizer for South Philly-based United Communities, an outreach group for the local Asian community.

Earlier this year, Baldia, 31, along with coworker Chhut Pa and Aldo Siahaan, pastor of Indonesian Full Gospel Church on the 2000 block of South 13th Street, decided it was time the Asian community united to defend itself against crime.

The men came up with an idea to form the first ethnically focused Town Watch group in Philadelphia.

Asian Town Watch was born out of local meetings and crime-prevention seminars between the Asian community and police, said Baldia. The introductory meeting for Asian Town Watch will be next Thursday, 6 p.m., at Houston Center, 2029 S. Eighth St.

The first meeting to tackle the issue of Asian crime was a citywide forum in June 2003 at Holy Redeemer Church, Ninth and Vine streets. The Fujian Association of the Greater Philadelphia Area organized the forum after three Asian restaurant owners were gunned down within three weeks in South and North Philadelphia. Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson and a host of police brass attended the forum.

Similar community meetings followed, many in South Philly, where crimes against Asians continued to rise. Baldia noticed that a lot of time was spent discussing the spike in crime but little was being done to eradicate it.

"People can’t just blame the police or the justice system or whoever," he said. "Crime is a complex issue. It has to come from the community, from the family, the block. We have to do our part. It’s about taking ownership." <

At a crime-prevention seminar earlier this year in South Philly, organized by police officials and Asian community leaders, Baldia and Third District Community Relations Officer Ace Delgado discussed the idea of an Asian Town Watch.

"It’s an issue that we have been trying to address," Baldia said. "We’ve been trying to empower the community. What we want to try and do is involve businesses and make them more aware. We thought this would be a powerful concept and timely issue, not only for the businesses but the entire community."

Baldia added that the launching of Asian Town Watch would not have been possible without Delgado’s help.

Because town watches work closely with police, the organizations help law-enforcement officials become familiar with the communities they serve, said Delgado.

"It’s good when the police and the community that we work with get to know each other and can work together," the officer said. "I think that by starting a town watch, you become familiar with some of the people who live in the area."

Chief Inspector James Tiano heads the police department’s Community Affairs Bureau and is liaison to the Asian Federation of the United States. Tiano enthusiastically supports the concept of town watches and helped form several when he worked out of the Ninth District in the Fairmount section of the city.

"Town watches do prevent crime," Tiano said. "I had a town watch where crime dropped 56 percent. When people are out on the street at night, they’re not going to commit a crime if they see town watch members walking around."

Tiano is particularly excited about the new Asian Town Watch.

"This is really good. This is a positive thing." he said.

Delgado, too, believes the time is right for a town watch that targets the Asian community.

"I think it’s time that we start recognizing Asians in the community, especially with regard to quality-of-life issues," he said.

While the group remains in the initial planning stages as the first meeting approaches, organizers have some basics already in place, Baldia said.

Asian Town Watch will be a certified Operation Town Watch group through the city. Members will receive city-approved instruction from training director Art Potts.

Asian Town Watch will start out by targeting Southeast Philadelphia, where most Asian immigrants have settled, Baldia said. Ethnic enclaves of Cambodians, Vietnamese, Laotians, Indonesians and others comprise the area.

Since each group tends to stick to its own, Asian Town Watch will strive to bring them together for the good of the entire community, Baldia noted.

"It is about teaching them what is the societal norm and how they can be involved," Baldia said. "What are the things in America that can empower them to get involved. As an Asian-American, I feel very strongly about this — in getting the community to feel it has a voice and it can do a lot of things if we start working together."

In addition to patrolling neighborhoods, town watch members also will keep an eye on businesses throughout the area.

In addition, the group will serve as an advisory committee. A committee of Asian religious, community and business leaders will be formed to help educate the community about safety, Baldia said. One method of education will be translating crime-prevention brochures into the various Asian languages and distributing them.

"It’s important to involve community leaders because trust starts with them," Baldia said. "We’re using that approach to galvanize the community and build trust between the Asian community and mainstream providers like the police."

The town watch is a way for Asians to be proactive in their community, the organizer noted.

"Asians need to do their part to band together to protect their community," he said. "Luckily Ky is a part of this. That was violence against one of our own. We believe that if the community stands together, we can prevent this type of thing from happening."