Congratulations to IPD Sergeants Do and Hernandez
I was honored to join Mayor Shea, Mayor Pro Tem Carroll, Councilmember Khan, and the community today for the official promotion ceremony for Sergeants James Do and Leticia Hernandez.
It was a particularly meaningful ceremony for me since I have personal experiences with both of these new Irvine Police Department sergeants.
Sergeant Do, a graduate of UC Irvine, has received multiple honors from the Irvine Police Department in his years with Irvine. He recruited me to participate in Irvine's Community Police Academy, a wonderful program which I continue to promote that helps people learn more about public safety. As one of the instructors, he patiently and thoroughly explained a great deal about our Department's operations and what it's like to work at a police department.
I had the pleasure of participating in my annual Police Ride-Along with Sergeant Hernandez this past New Year's Eve. Sergeant Hernandez led a team on the "Delta" shift to keep Irvine safe that night, and on all other nights, as well. She is a graduate of the Rio Hondo Police Academy, Cal State Dominguez Hills who has been with the Department for over 11 years, and has also filled in as the Department's Spanish language spokesperson on occasion.
As Chief Hamel closed his recognition of these two professionals, he added, "you have to be a good person to be a good leader," words with which I found myself agreeing. We are indeed lucky to have good people like Sergeant Do and Sergeant Hernandez partnering with our community.
