Expats in Shanghai get helpful meetups with local police

Local police, traffic police and entry-exit admin staff who can speak English, Korean or Japanese are more than happy to give consultations with expats living in Shanghai's Changning district.

The first meeting was held between representatives of the three administrations and 10 foreign residents in the area, taking around an hour to cover all the subjects discussed. The expats chosen to attend were international school teachers, overseas company employees and others able and willing to communicate with their community on matters such as safety, telephone scams and other issues relevant to expats in the city. Multi-language brochures giving everything from advice to helpful hints were also distributed.

One US expat teacher at an international school needed to know about ongoing visa policies as well as a local driving license, telling reporters he’s been in Shanghai for some five years and was more than happy to get verifiable information from the right sources. Previously, he said, he’d asked many expats but received conflicting replies every time. According to a traffic police chief who’d attended the meeting, driving license applicants need to pass a test based on driving ability and knowledge of local traffic laws in the English language.

Another expat, Daniel Zimmerman, works as an international school librarian and has been a traffic police volunteer for the past three years. He’s happy to pass on any information from the meetings to his expat compatriots, realising it’s the best way to help spread the word. Another issue discussed was telephone scams, with engineer Stephen McMahon telling of a suspicious phone call he received during which the English-speaking caller asking for private information about his company. Stephen has lived in Shanghai for 15 years, and was originally advised not to give personal or business information to strangers.