Small business owners at Oakland’s Vietnamese community, known as Little Saigon, said they’re being besieged by crime and they need the city’s help.
Truong and Le, along with about 100 other Little Saigon small business owners, are fed up with the purse snatchings, break-ins and sideshows. “This past week they have decided to reach out to other business owners to see how other communities, other business districts were able to get funding for cameras, for support such as community ambassadors,” said Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce President, Dr. Jennifer Kim-Anh Tran.
She said she has seen the city’s Chinatown neighborhood get increased police foot patrols and funding, but she feels the Vietnamese community has been ignored.“I think we still wrestle with the diversity of API communities,” said Kim-Anh Tran. The chamber started a crowdfunding effort for Little Saigon to raise money for high quality cameras, hoping that will provide some safety.Le says he is tired of the violence, he doesn’t know how long he can continue to protect his business on his own.