Los Angeles just got a new top cop — a Trojan.
The Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners unanimously voted to appoint Assistant Chief Dominic H. Choi to serve as interim chief on Wednesday. He will assume the position on March 1.
“I think he’s fantastic,” USC President Carol Folt told Annenberg Media. “I haven’t sat with him personally, but I very much look forward to it. USC needs to have a good relationship with the city of L.A., and certainly with law enforcement.”
The USC Department of Public Safety in a statement said it was looking forward to continuing its relationship with the Los Angeles Police Department.
“We have a great partnership with the Los Angeles Police Department, and we look forward to working with Chief Choi in keeping our campus community safe,” DPS Chief Lauretta Hill said.
Choi will become the first Asian American ever to lead the nation’s third-largest police department and said his goals included a focus on maintaining public safety, stability and training for mental illness and civil unrest. He also aims to be accessible to the public and maintain open lines of communication.
“The selection of Chief Choi is not something that my fellow commissioners and I came to lightly, or quickly,” Erroll Southers, president of the Board of Police Commissioners and a professor at the Price School of Public Policy, said at a press conference. “He is someone who’s been seen at LAPD as someone who understands American policing and the change throughout the years.”
The son of Korean immigrants, Choi is not only deeply familiar with the department’s procedures but also with the city of Los Angeles, where he was born. Choi attended Canyon Valley High School in Anaheim before graduating from USC with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, according to the LAPD.
Choi will remain in the role until LAPD appoints its new chief, a move that’s expected to happen this summer.