The sounds of drums and fanfare could be heard outside LAPD HQ in downtown L.A. Wednesday as officers celebrated AAPI Heritage Month.
KNX News' Emily Valdez was there and had a chance to speak with the department's current and first Asian American chief, Dominic Choi.
"This organization has been becoming more and more diverse every day. Interim Chief Choi said. "I came on in 1995, and I've seen the outward appearance of this organization changed so much; the thought of our command officers and our officers on patrol on how they view diversity... diversity has made us stronger, and our folks believe that that's what makes us better."
Valdez also spoke with LAPD Sergeant and Pilot Korean-American Janet Kim.
"We immigrated here when I was four years old, and I'm living the American dream," Sergeant Kim said.
She has been with the department for over 26 years and said in that time, she has seen diversity across the department grow. "When I came on the job, [there were] maybe three or four other Asian women that were working the streets... now I see them all over the place, and it's so heartening to see that more Asian young women are interested in law enforcement," Kim said.
Kim also said a diverse LAPD makes it easier for people to collaborate and cooperate with law enforcement when they see officers who look like them and speak their language.
The first Asian American Pacific Islander to join the LAPD was Officer Lung Yep in 1913.
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