WESTMINSTER : Picnic Part of Plan to Combat Crime

The Bowling Green Neighborhood Watch group, revived after the fatal shooting of a resident last summer, will hold its first annual spring picnic today to try to unite neighbors against crime.

Organizers hope the outdoor gathering will attract more Vietnamese participants, who make up a large portion of the population around Bowling Green Park and are often victims of Vietnamese gangs, group coordinator Jo Porter said.

The sentiment is shared by the Westminster Police Department, which recently hired two Vietnamese community liaison officers to implement the new Vietnamese Crime Prevention Program, Lt. Andrew Hall said.

The officers will be at the picnic, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., to help educate Vietnamese neighbors about battling crime.

Activities will include fingerprinting of children--the prints will be kept on file in the event a child is lost or otherwise missing--a demonstration of the police canine unit and a raffle, Porter said.

The former Bowling Green Homeowners’ Assn. had some anti-crime activities, but ceased to exist several years ago as members started to retire and move out of the area, she said.

“Then there was nothing to keep it growing because there was nothing bad happening,” she said.

But last year, Janet Bicknell, 49, was driving home near the park on an August night when she was fatally shot in the head by a group of teen-age gang members.

Her death shocked the peaceful neighborhood. Residents reported that they were increasingly worried that gang members had been frequenting the park.

“We were all awakened by this Janet Bicknell thing, and so we got together,” Porter said.

There are now about 200 participants in the informally coordinated group, which is geared more toward protecting the neighborhood from crime than its predecessor, she said. But few of the members are Vietnamese, despite Vietnamese-language flyers announcing monthly meetings.

“We have tried so desperately to include them,” Porter said. “They’re a big part of the neighborhood. A lot of times they seem to be the targeted victims and they need us as much as we need them.”

Christopher Duong, 29, one of the two Vietnamese community liaison officers, said it is hoped that the new crime prevention program will encourage the Vietnamese community to report crimes. The program is funded by the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement. Duong and the other officer, Ben Cao, 22, are both studying criminal justice at Golden West College.