Thursday, 4:30 PM
Police cross racial, cultural barriers
By Maria Cramer, Globe Staff
QUINCY — They learned how to recognize handicapped parking spots, sit quietly when pulled over by a police officer, and obey speed limits.
But before graduating Wednesday from the police department’s first all-Cantonese Citizen Police Academy, more than 50 senior Chinese residents also were encouraged to be more trusting of government officials, Western medicine, and police.
The month-long program is part of the department’s efforts to bridge cultural differences in this historically white, blue-collar city where about 21,000 people, more than one fifth of the population, are Asian.
They don’t receive any policing powers, but department officials hope the graduates pass on the lessons to relatives and other Chinese immigrants and that the Asian community becomes more comfortable reporting crime and helping police.
