LAPD appoints first Chinese officer
Nov. 17, 1913: Los Angeles Police Chief Charles Sebastian placed a badge on Chinese immigrant Lung Yep, who “stepped from the comparative obscurity of a clerkship in Sing Fat’s store into the authority of a star and a club,” The Times reported.
He became, the newspaper said, “the first Chinese ever to be so invested in the United States or in the entire Occident, so far as the police records of the continent show.”
His appointment followed an investigation of conditions in Chinatown. “After a talk with the men now patrolling that picturesque district, Chief Sebastian agreed with the men that a native policeman is needed, one who speaks the Chinese language,” The Times said.
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