The Asian population is climbing in Montgomery County, and with that rise has come cultural challenges in solving crime, according to authorities.
Calling the Asian community a “tough nut to crack,” Montgomery County Police Chief Tom Manger said this growing ethnic subset tends to be reluctant to report and discuss criminal activity, even though a significant amount of violent offenses occur.
That’s why he’s making a concerted effort to hire and recruit more Asian police officers to serve as liaisons.
“We know there are home invasions and robberies going on a lot. … We’ve begged the Asian community to work with us on this but we haven’t had much success yet,” he told community members recently. “We’re working on it a great deal.”
According to 2004 Census figures, Asians make up about 13 percent of the population in Montgomery County, which is nearly on par with the increasing Hispanic population.
The difference is that county police have been making strides for years to get Spanish-speaking officers on the force. Manger said his office has even progressed to the point in which it’s teaching Spanish at the police academy, and that he has Hispanic members of his citizens advisory board.
This is certainly not the case with the Asian population.
“I can count on one hand the number of Vietnamese officers and the number of Korean officers I have,” the chief explained.
Yet this community needs even more outreach, according to some citizens.
Alice Gordon, a member of numerous civic groups, was the one who pointed out to Manger the need to focus on Asian crime.
Gordon said in her experience the pace of gang activity in the Asian community, as well as Asian-on-Asian crime in general, is picking uprapidly, particularly in Germantown.
“It’s going on,” Gordon said, “but it’s not talked about.”
Population Breakdown
» 56 percent white
» 16 percent black
» 13 percent Hispanic
» 13 percent Asian
Montgomery County 2004 Census
