Reflection of Stockton [The first Cambodian to become a police sergeant in Stockton]

Police department can only benefit from having a force as diverse as the streets it protects

October 07, 2012 

The Stockton Record

The Stockton Police Department has something today that it's never had before: a sergeant who's of Vietnamese descent.

Sgt. Kenney Pham joins Sophal Nhem, who in June became the first man with Cambodian roots to become a sergeant.

That's great for Pham and Nhem. It's even better for the department to have men with Pham and Nhem's insights about their respective communities not to mention their language skills.

Pham and Nhem are here to serve all Stocktonians, but their rise in the department ranks and its importance to the Vietnamese and Cambodian communities cannot be overstated.

Stockton is a highly diverse town, a city of many cultures, languages and faces. To be most effective, the police department must reflect that diversity.

Over the past few years, Stockton has lost dozens and dozens of officers who've retired, moved to other agencies or cities, become disabled or simply given up police work. A lot of those losses came because of layoffs stemming from the city's financial crisis. Slowly, officers are being added. Nine just last week joined the force.

This means the department is in a unique position to increase its diversity.

We would urge the department's leadership to move quickly and decisively in that direction by actively seeking women and minority recruits.

This does not mean the city should accept unqualified candidates to fulfill some arbitrary quota. It does mean that the department should actively seek officers who have special skills or backgrounds that can help the department make closer links with the city's diverse population groups.

Just as it is important that there be Spanish speaking officers on Stockton's streets it's also important to have officers on patrol who understand the varied cultures represented in the city's Southeast Asian population.

For officers working in areas where those populations live, such skills are every bit as important as understanding the nuances of the Penal Code or being able to handle a firearm.

We need more Kenny Phams and Sophal Nhems just as we need more Latino, black and female officers. And we need to seize this opportunity to make sure we get them.

We look forward to the day when a Kenny Pham or a Sophal Nhem getting a promotion is important, but not unique.