Describe what you do.

I’m a spokesman and liaison between the police department and the community. I’m kind of like a bridge, trying to have both parts understand each other. For instance, in the Stanley Miller case, the car thief who was beaten by one of our officers, the black community’s not happy. Chief Bill Bratton and Mayor Jim Hahn had to go out there and explain why we did what we did. In that communication, I’m a tool between the department and the community.

It’s an ongoing job here. For example, when I was monitoring Korean news, as I do every day, I saw an article about two of our cops responding to a 12-year-old Korean boy’s 911 call. His bicycle had been stolen. While they were taking down the info, the cops were really impressed with how bright this kid was, so they were compelled to buy him the same bike out of their own pocket. This is a win-win-win situation. This is good for the kid. This is good for the two cops. And it is going to make the department look good. It shows we’re not just cops who beat [people up]. We do this kind of stuff, too.

Dealing with reporters is probably only 30 percent of the job. We also deal with hundreds of requests from all over the world for fly-alongs on our choppers, requests for records from 1947 and advising screenwriters on police procedure.

Describe your path here.

I immigrated with my family when I was 16. I majored in electrical engineering, but then I started taking some political science and criminal justice classes. That changed me. I applied at 22 for the LAPD and found out that I had to be a citizen to become an officer, so I joined the Marine Corps instead. I got my citizenship while in the Marines, came back and took the LAPD test. I joined the force in 1987. I was 28.

I began at Central Division patrolling downtown L.A., then I transferred to Harbor Division, near Wilmington, where my father owned a liquor store. For six years, I worked the gang unit. I was one of those hard-charging officers, hookin’ and bookin’ in police jargon. Me and my partner used to make four arrests every day. After that I came to Rampart Division. Then, because of my bilingual abilities, I was in charge of a Korean substation that opened up in Koreatown.

Then there was an opening in the Media Relations office, and in 1997 I became the first not only KA but Asian American to become a spokesperson for a government agency. I’m pretty proud of that.

Ever miss being out on the street?

Yes and no. People watch police movies and think police work is just catching robbers, burglars and killers. That’s probably less than 5 percent of what actual police do. Our job is more of a service, preventing crime. Everything we do as police is helping someone, including giving someone a ticket and arresting someone for robbery, because you’re putting a stop to wrongdoing. So that person will not become an accident victim or perpetrator or commit more robberies.