As the population of Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants and their U.S.-born children continues to grow, this bloc is choosing jobs in law-enforcement agencies in the face of cultural challenges that often place other careers in higher esteem.
In New Jersey, for instance, Asian-American women are becoming police officers, investigators, and detectives despite resistance from parents who would rather their daughters pursue careers with more prestige, such as doctors, bankers, or lawyers, according to a NorthJersey.com story.
Yet, around the nation, Asian-American women are reaching milestones within their departments. In 2011, Sandy Kim, a South Korean native, became the first Asian-American female in the Santa Ana, Calif., Police Department to be promoted to sergeant. In 2008, the San Francisco Chronicle profiled the city's retiring police chief, Heather Fong, who served for three decades. Other women of Asian descent have made history by breaking barriers, including in smaller jurisdictions, including Alice Ng, who joined the Chesapeake, Va., police in March.
A NorthJersey.com reporter interviewed a 36-year-old mother of two who left a six-figure salary at a bank to become a county sheriff's investigator, much to the initial dismay of her South Korean immigrant parents.
