The Ethnic Chambers’ Police Appreciation Night was a success with over 150 people attending. KCTS 9 Connects host Enrique Cerna acted as Master of Ceremonies. Chambers of Commerce represented include the Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Hispanic, East African, African American and Greater Seattle. A listing of the officers honored is included below.
Officer Cricket Bonner
Officer Christie-Lynne (Cricket) Bonner has been with the Seattle Police Department for 24 years. She is the Peer Support Coordinator assisting officers and their families with the nuances of a Law Enforcement Career. She works on the CISM (Critical Incident Stress Management) team and the department’s family support programs.
Officer Bonner has found a love of teaching. She went back to school to pursue a degree in Teaching English to People of other Languages and will be graduating in Spring 2012 from Seattle University. She volunteers her time teaching English at a local community college and in the past with Casa Latina for a year. She finds this work extremely rewarding in helping her students being able to meet their goals.
Detective Adrian Z. Diaz
Adrian has been a police officer for 14 years with the Seattle Police Department. He oversees the School Emphasis Officer Unit for the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative. Officer Diaz currently works on two Mayor Initiatives, The Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative and the Youth and Families Initiative.
Officer Diaz holds a B.A. in Law and Justice from Central Washington University and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Washington.
Officer Diaz served on the Department of Justice’s Community Collaboration project, the King County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce board, Alliance for Education Community Engagement Task Force, and the National Latino Peace Officers Association (Seattle Chapter) and Campana Queztal. In his personal time, he is married to Kelly Diaz and has three beautiful children Alex, and twins, Gabby and Zach. If that isn’t enough he is also an Assistant Wrestling Coach at a local high school.
Lt. Carmen Best
Lieutenant Carmen Best has worked for the Seattle Police Department since 1992. She is currently the Community Outreach Lieutenant. As the Community Outreach Lieutenant she is responsible for overseeing personnel assigned to community outreach, false alarm detail, youth outreach, school emphasis, explorers, media response, the citizen’s police academy, and demographic advisory councils.
Carmen has a certificate in Police Management from the University of Washington and certificate in Criminal Justice Education from the University of Virginia. She completed the Senior Management Institute for Police in 2006 and the FBI National Academy in 2010. She is the treasurer for the Washington State Chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives and parent-volunteer for the Friends of Lakeside Athletics.
Carmen is married and the mother of two, one in college and one in high school.
Lieutenant John Hayes
Lieutenant John Hayes is a twenty-eight (28) year veteran of the Seattle Police Department (SPD). Lieutenant Hayes has served as an advisor for the University of Chicago School of Social Services Administration gang program: National Youth Gang Suppression and Intervention. Lieutenant Hayes was also appointed by the Governor of Washington to participate in the State Task Force on Children’s Justice. Lieutenant Hayes continues to be an instructor, facilitator and guest presenter for the Washington State Bar Association Washington Criminal Justice Institute Conference, Seattle University, University of Washington and many organizations within the community. Lieutenant Hayes has trained and continues to train thousands of people (locally and nationally) in the areas of family and youth intervention services, gang violence and weapons reduction and specifically in working with high-risk juvenile populations. Lieutenant John Hayes is the Immediate Past National Chair of the National Black Police Association as well as the Immediate Past President of the Black Law Enforcement Association of Washington.
Sgt. Thomas Yoon
Sgt. Thomas Yoon has served in the Seattle Police Department for 19 years and is currently the Sergeant for the Night West Precinct ACT- Team. Prior to being promoted to Sergeant 5 years ago, Sgt. Yoon worked in patrol and the West Bicycle Unit.
He has received many recognitions including one in 2006 where Sgt. Yoon was awarded the Chief’s Award for his involvement in apprehending a sex offender who had been victimizing women in Seattle neighborhoods.
Sgt. Yoon has an engineering degree from the University of Washington.
Sgt. Yoon works with the Korean community in participating in finger printing projects for people in need and he is actively involved with church activities.
Sgt. Jay Shin
Sgt. Jay Shin has been with the Seattle Police Department for 24 years and currently serves as Sergeant for Community Outreach. He has been a Sergeant for the past 15 years, working out of the South and East Precincts.
Sgt. Shin grew up in Seattle and feels very comfortable and at home with all the diverse neighborhoods of Seattle. He is currently involved in many efforts and projects pertaining community involvement, both professionally and personally. He believes volunteerism is an important aspect of any community and has done tremendous work to connect communities with the Seattle Police Department.
Although he has been received many awards and recognitions, he is most grateful and appreciative for those received from citizens.
He is a graduate of University of Washington with a degree in English. His hobbies include fly-fishing, golf, and ballroom dancing – that’s right, Ballroom dancing.
He is also a proud grandfather of a toddler named Isaiah.
Chad McLaughlin
As a member of our neighborhood’s Community Police Team, Chad has actively engaged the neighborhood by consistently participating in the Chinatown-ID Public Safety discussions. He has been an indispensible ally for the community, providing insight and access into the Seattle Police Department—working with the residents, businesses and property owners to identify chronic issues and creatively trouble shoot to find working solutions and partnerships between the department and the community.
Crime Prevention Coordinator Francisco Tello
Francisco has been an asset to the Chinatown-International District for years. As a Crime Prevention Coordinator, he has established a trusting relationship between our neighborhood businesses and the Seattle Police Department. It is this brand of proactive policing that has increased the community’s participation in the City’s public safety efforts —access to dept—. Through his work on the Business Watch and C.P.T.E.D. Programs, he has increased awareness of how we can all make our neighborhood safer.
Sgt. Joe Lam
Sgt. Lam has been an officer in the Seattle Police Dept. for over 27 years, and has been a sergeant for over 13 years.
During his career, Sgt. Lam has held a variety of positions in the department, from patrol assignments to the Gang Squad, from the DUI squad where he was one of few officers given a V8 Mustang, to detective assignments in Burglary and Check Fraud. Sgt. Lam was also specially assigned to work the resentencing investigation for the tragic Wah Mee massacre. Once promoted, Sgt. Lam was asigned to patrol operations in the East Precinct, where he supervised a squad of patrol officers. In each instance, Sgt. Lam served the department with pride and distinction.
For the last 4 years, Sgt. Lam has served as the sergeant of the East Pct’s Bicycle Squad. This assignment has allowed Sgt. Lam to use his leadership, organization, and management skills in conjunction with his outstanding work ethic and tenacity to serve the citizens of the city of Seattle. Sgt. Lam is keenly attuned to the needs of the communities within the precinct.
Sgt. Lam has directed ongoing support of these various communities through proactive bike patrols in areas such as the 12 Av S/S Jackson Street community. The efforts coordinated by Sgt. Lam have resulted in the arrests of multitudes of felons, the seizure of tens of $1,000s worth of drugs, and recovery of over $100,000 in stolen property.
Sgt. Lam is a true American hero, serving his community every day. He is grounded by his love of his wife and family, and his sense of service and dedication to the citizens of this city. Every day Sgt. Lam works to support the Department’s core mission of “fighting crime, reducing fear and building community”. The Seattle Police Department and the citizens of Seattle are truly blessed to have a man with the character of Sgt. Lam serving them.
Sgt. Paul Leung
Sgt. Leung has been working for the SPD for 28 years, 18 years as a sergeant.
He has worked in Patrol, Narcotics, the Gang Unit, Anti-Crime Team and Community Police Team. He currently works as a patrol sergeant in the East Precinct.
In addition to his patrol duties, Paul is the SPD’s South East Asian liaison officer.
In his free time Sgt. Leung runs marathons and competes in triathlons. He also volunteers at the Redmond Food Bank and for his daughter’s swim team.
Officer Patrick Chang
Officer Patrick Chang is a 30-year veteran of the Seattle Police Department. He grew up in Hong Kong and immigrated to the United States when he was seven years old. Even at that young age, he already knew he wanted to be a police officer. During his teen years, Patrick joined the Seattle Police Explorers Program to learn more about the law enforcement field. When Patrick turned 19, he became one of the youngest 911 dispatchers hired by the Seattle Police Department. Four years later, Patrick tested for and became a Seattle Police Officer. For nearly 26 years, Patrick has worked at the South and Southwest Precincts, the Citywide Anti-Violence Team and an Asian Gangs Task Force. Patrick is currently assigned as a patrol officer in West Seattle. He is also a member of the Crisis Intervention Team and a Hostage Negotiator. Patrick is passionate about working with At-Risk Youths and children who have been involved in traumatic situations. His goal is to empower them into leading positive lives. One recent arrestee thanked Officer Chang and said, “When I talk to you, I don’t see the uniform.” Several years ago, the Department received a letter from a young man Officer Chang had arrested years ago: “I would like to contact an officer about an encounter many years ago. This officer took the time to sit and talk to me when I was young and possibly headed in the wrong direction. Too often it seems that making an arrest is more important than getting involved and making a difference. Officer Chang had a real concern about the influence he would have with a few moments of his time. Though it has been 15 years, I have looked back and drawn from the encounter countless times and gain from the impact he made. I would like to thank him for his words and actions.”
Crime Prevention Coordinator Linh Tach
Linh joined SPD in 1995. He forms a vital link between the police and the SE Asian community. With his background in law school in Vietnam and ability to speak Vietnamese and Cambodian fluently, he helps immigrants in these communities to communicate. He conducts training for seniors on how to call 911. He helped organize the different SPD demographic advisory councils for SE Asians, Filipinos and Koreans. He also helped coordinate Police Academy for citizens in the ethnic communities. Linh is married with 3 children. They are pharmacist, Boeing machinist and a pharmacy student at UW.
Officer Jojo Cambronero
Officer Cambronero He’s been with the Seattle Police Department for 24 years, 2 years serving as a School Resource Officer at Rainier Beach High School. He is currently assigned to the Community Outreach Unit. He serves as a Liaison Officer for the Filipino Advisory Council and Pista Committee. The Community Outreach Officers are committed to ongoing and proactive communication with our neighborhoods, businesses and community based organizations to strengthen our public safety practices and programs to ensure the Seattle Police Department is working toward responding to and reducing the fear of crime. What he enjoyed about patrol is establishing a relationship and sharing laughter with the youths, youths at risk and the communities.
Officer Joselito Banez
Officer Banez has been with the Seattle Police Department for over 16 years. He is currently assigned in the South Precinct working 1st watch as a patrol officer. While being in patrol, he is also an active Field Training Officer, working as part of the Crisis Intervention Team, a Rifle Officer, and sometimes filling in as an acting sergeant when no hard stripe sergeant is available. Some of his community involvement includes assisting the SPD Recruiting Unit in their advertising and going to job fairs helping to recruit other Asian American in becoming a Seattle Police Officer. He enjoys the role of being a Seattle Police Department Liaison Officer working with the Filipino Demographic Advisory Council for the Filipino community. As an Asian American and growing up in the Seattle area, he feels he is a good role model for many Asian Americans and other minority communities. His goal is to help build good relationships between the Seattle Police Department and other demographic communities and strengthening communication and maintain trust. What he likes most about being an officer is working with people of all color. He enjoys interacting with people of different culture and working within the Seattle area because of its diversity. He stated that being a Seattle Police Officer is challenging at times but overall a very rewarding experience.