Check it out. 27-year-old Rosa Park is the first Asian American female police officer in the Baltimore County Police department. She graduated from the academy on June 24 and started training four days later: Baltimore County welcomes first Asian-American female cop to force.
Park, 27, a native of Cockeysville, said she first became aware of the need for more diversity in the field when she was a teenager and her parents owned a number of liquor stores in Baltimore City. One of the stores was robbed, but when her parents called the police, they felt little was done to find the perpetrator. Park believed her parents were brushed off because their English wasn't very good.It's an important and necessary barrier to break, and she will be a valuable asset for the community, both as a law enforcement officer and an ambassador for the community.
"One of my driving forces for why I wanted to become a police officer was just to represent because I think it's needed," Park said.
"I see the rift between Asians and police officers … and I've seen how they interacted with my parents and it's not very nice," she said. "I just know there's a lot of mistrust between Asians and police officers, and I just want to break that barrier and be there for the community."
She hopes that by joining the force, she will be able to offer Asians in the community a renewed sense of trust in the police.
Park is set to end her field training today. She's currently working in the Towson precinct, but hopes to one day serve in the Cockeysville precinct, which has a large Asian community.