Safety is of utmost importance to any student in a foreign country. Hence FUSIA Communications organized a sharing session for CCIP Session A students with the Officers of the New York Police Department (NYPD), 109 precinct.

The session was held at the indoor basketball courts in the Flushing YMCA at around 8.00pm. Students were seated and listened attentively as Detective John Flaherty, Sergeant Ray Morales, Officer Keith O’ Donnell and Officer Suk Too shared tips on personal safety when carrying valuable items, when taking the subway, when coming back late in New York and when crossing the roads.

Detective Flaherty, who did most of the sharing, started off by explaining that New York City is a relatively safe city but that doesn’t mean that students would not encounter criminals. He explained that many foreign students are unfamiliar with the area and become easy targets for criminals, hence it is important that students be aware of their surroundings and not have “tunnel vision”.

The officers also gave students advice on protecting themselves, such as going out in groups, not carrying excessively valuable items on them, and being aware of strangers who approach them. Detective Flaherty used real life examples to demonstrate how pickpockets and conmen operate and also taught students how to react to such situations.

“I found the NYPD session to be very helpful as I now know how to handle strangers who approach us. I will definitely be more aware of my surroundings now and take better care of my personal belongings, “ said Alan Yeung Chun Hoi, a student from University of Hong Kong.

“ The Officers were really friendly and taught us a lot about how to keep ourselves safe such as discarding our drink if it has been left unattended in the clubs, and also to look out for oncoming cars as the traffic system is different from my country,” said Rachel Wong Wai Sze from Lingnan University.

To conclude the session, Sergeant Morales stressed that despite their stern appearance, the officers of the NYPD are very friendly and approachable people and would be more than willing to help anybody who approaches them. He also mentioned that students should not hesitate to report any incidents or missing items by calling 911 or talking to any officer.

“After the session, I realized that even though New York City is quite safe, we should not take safety for granted and we must always keep a lookout for our own safety. However I feel assured that the NYPD has professional officers whom we can always approach and they would always do their best to protect us”, said Sean Goh Shao Hern from National University of Singapore.

Special thanks to the officers from the NYPD for conducting the informative session and sharing valuable tips with our students.