Resources readily available

BPSOS-Houston staff talking to the HPD cadets on the various programs available

BPSOS-Houston has had an ongoing collaboration with the Houston Police Department for numerous years to bring in cadets near graduation to learn more about the Bellaire community. This is to help the upcoming police team learn how to deal with various cultures appropriately. We understand people’s tendency to distrust the police and wanted to explain why that is and what actions they can take to help rebuild that trust.

Our goal during these sessions is to break down these walls and explain to the cadets the background of the Vietnamese people and their feelings towards the government. This also ties in with the strong influence of Asian culture on the Bellaire strip and other various parts of Houston. With these things in mind, we laid the groundwork for understanding and culturally sensitive actions through our stories.

We then spoke about the services we offer at our office, especially for domestic violence victims, to let the cadets know that our doors are always open to everyone. Connecting them to these resources and understanding the community helps build a network for support when needed.

We ended the session by teaching the cadets Vietnamese words that would help de-escalate the situation or communicate with trust when interacting with a Vietnamese person. Overall, the cadets loved learning about a new community they had never been exposed to or taught about. We hope to continue supporting our community by teaching people in leadership positions about the importance of interacting sensitively with different cultures.

Group Picture with Cadets and Michelle Tran (DV Case Manager) Outside BPSOS-Houston Office