LAPD Gives Lessons in Crime Prevention to Valley Koreans

There are times when etiquette can be a life-and-death matter, police advised a group of Korean merchants this week.

Such as when you’re being robbed.

Knowing the proper way to behave when a robber has you at gunpoint was part of the advice officers gave 15 Korean merchants who attended a crime-prevention workshop Thursday night at a Northridge restaurant.

“If you have to reach under the counter to get the money, tell the robber what you’re doing so he won’t shoot you, thinking you’re getting a gun,” said Detective Al Michelena. “You always have to tell the robber what you’re doing. . . . The most important thing is your life and the lives of your employees.”

The workshop, conducted with the help of two Korean-speaking officers, marks the first time the Los Angeles Police Department has reached out to the San Fernando Valley’s growing Korean community, Michelena said. The department has sponsored numerous similar workshops for homeowners and businesses in the Valley but the meetings were always conducted in English or Spanish.

Michelena and Officer Jim Chong distributed flyers with crime-prevention tips, such as keeping the store well-lit and windows clear of posters.

They also passed out forms that allow victims to make notes immediately after the robbery to help identify robbers. For example, under the category “complexion,” there are sub-categories such as “pale,” “freckled” and “wrinkled.”

Michelena encouraged the merchants to keep the forms readily available so they can fill them out while their memories are still fresh.

The meeting grew out of a recent interview by a Korea Times reporter with Deputy Chief Mark A. Kroeker, commander of police operations in the Valley.

“He asked me what we had done to inform Korean businesses” about crime, Kroeker said, “and I said, ‘What can we do?’ So his paper helped us set this up.”

There are no precise figures on the number of Korean-owned businesses in the Valley, but Korean-language newspapers estimate 2,000, mainly in Van Nuys and Reseda.

Many businesses have moved to the Valley from Koreatown, downtown or South-Central Los Angeles, said Samuel Lee, whose Northridge real estate firm helps Korean businesses relocate.

“They come here because there is less crime and it’s a good market to expand,” Lee said after the workshop.

Police had no statistics on crime against Korean merchants, Michelena said, because the department does not keep track of crime based on race of the victim unless it is a suspected hate crime.

Korean businesses in the Valley have been victimized in some notable cases. In May, Lee Chul Kim was killed after robbers ransacked the cash registers at his Woodley Market in Van Nuys.

Several business owners at the workshop said they had been robbed or burglarized. One man, who would not give his name, complained to Kroeker that police were slow to respond when his Canoga Park liquor store was robbed recently.

Most of the merchants said they wanted to know proper police procedures for crime prevention and reporting of incidents or suspicious activity.

“This is very serious,” said Michael Park, a contractor who moved to the Valley 15 years ago after being robbed in Koreatown. “People here are very worried about crime. They don’t want to see the Valley become like South-Central.”