Yesterday, June 6, NYPD Officer Burger and his colleagues from the New York Police Department's Community Affairs Bureau gave CCIP J-1 interns a talk on safety in New York City.

Before the presentation, student leader Sherry from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore welcomed the NYPD representative. She said, "Officer Burger taught us how to report a 911 incident such as giving the street number and how to quickly take mental notes of the perpetrator if we were robbed such as height, built and clothing. "

Officer Burger reminded the students to pay attention to their surroundings at all times, especially when taking the subway. He cautioned students to always be careful of their personal belongings, such as an iPhone, laptop, wallet, etc.

Officer Burger added that added that students should always travel in groups, avoid dangerous areas and avoid speaking to strangers. Not only should students be wary of dark and isolated places but also crowded places such as Times Square.

Students were also informed about the different scams that is currently prevalent in New York City such as taking pictures with mascots who come up to people randomly.

Connie, another student at Nanyang Technological University said, "Police Officer Mr Mark Burger gave CCIP students a vivid talk about how to protect ourselves from potential safety threat. The most impressive case study was how to react to a gun shot. We should take the 'run, hide, fight strategy'. It is seemingly impossible to meet such an extreme cases, but we should always be alerted and remember that 'Not if, but when.'"

Lisa also studies at Nanyang Technological University. She said, "The NYPD safety talk conducted by Officer Burger was extremely informative. It gave me a better understanding of what I should do to minimise the risk of falling victim to crime, such as being vigilant of my surroundings and keeping an eye on my personal belongings at all times. He gave us real life demonstrations which was helpful to visualise and fully understand the scenarios."

Kanghong from the Shu Yan University in Hong Kong commented, "The life of being outside alone is not that safe, especially in NY, a strange city to the fresh. We, students, need to learn how to protect ourselves as well as our property. Thanks for the talk the NYPD gave tonight! It was fairly useful and helpful. From now on, I can cope with emergences, like robbery or theft more calmly and skillfully."

Hanyuan from the Education University of Hong Kong said, "The sharing is really useful and vital for us, because most of us live far from home and do not have enough information about America environment."