Dear Mr. Yoshino:

I have reviewed your letter of July 25, 2000 and am concerned with your perception of how this Department functions when a citizen of our community is the victim of a personal attack.

At one point in your letter you question whether or not this Police Department took any community-wide action prior to the attack on our resident. Our officers, along with members of all metropolitan police departments, have been distributing updated informational posters from the onset of this criminal activity. In fact, the Arlington resident attacked on July 19, 2000 recognized the fact she was in imminent danger as a result of regularly seeing the posters where she shops.

You also raise the issue of our Department being unaware of how many Asian families live in Lincoln Square Apartments. I would like to point out that this apartment complex is not a high crime area. The operational officers of this Department normally become aware of population trends as a result of reported incidents. This activity encompasses not only criminal and traffic calls but includes service requests. In reviewing our statistics, the Lincoln Square Apartments has a low rate of police recorded calls, which gives rise to Sgt. DuFloth's statement in the Daily Herald article.

Your initial complaint indicates that the use of the term "Oriental" in referring to persons of Japanese descent is passé and that may be the case. However, this term is not an insult as implied in your letter. The current English dictionaries reflect a mirror image for a definition of Asian/Oriental. In today's society, pressure to modify the English language comes from many avenues and all too often special interest groups have tendency to adapt quicker than the general public.

You have indicated that Ms. Jean Fujiu, Executive Director of the Japanese American Service Committee, lodged a complaint with your organization regarding the treatment she received from our Department as a result of offering her agency's services. The Commander of our Criminal Investigation Bureau will be contacting Ms. Fujiu to thoroughly investigate the incident.

For decades this Department has developed avenues to interact with all segments of our community. Considering you are housed in Chicago, you may not be aware of the suburban effort to ensure government's response to its citizens is equitable. Should you desire to explore some of our community based programs, please contact my office at your convenience.

Finally, you raise the issue of whether or not this Department works closely with multi-jurisdictional law enforcement efforts. Pay close attention to the newspaper accounts of this investigation over the course of the next two weeks.

Sincerely

Rodney L Kath
Chief of Police
Arlington Heights Police Department