On October 25th, the New York City Police Department held a promotion ceremony for officers at the “New York Police Academy” in Queens. Several Chinese-American officers were promoted, including Ronald Cheng, the commanding officer of Housing Bureau PSA4, who was promoted from Captain to Deputy Inspector.
Acting Chief of the New York City Police Department and former FBI official, Thomas Donlon, congratulated all the promotees that day. He stated that for all the newly promoted officers, it was a new beginning: new shield, new rank, and new challenges, signifying more responsibilities and higher expectations. He emphasized the importance of setting goals and challenged everyone to push themselves, acknowledging the daily unpredictable situations officers face with courage, discipline, and dedication.
Donlon gave words of encouragement, sharing advice he had learned over the years: success at any level requires more than just reacting, it demands staying focused, long-term planning, common sense, and listening to everyone’s opinions, being critical aspects.
Ronald Cheng, the first Chinese-American commanding officer of PSA4, was promoted to Deputy Inspector. The bureau covers the precincts of 5, 7, 9, and 10 in lower Manhattan. Hailing from Staten Island, he will reach 20 years of service in the coming year. After assuming the role of commanding officer at PSA4, he made sure to assign several officers fluent in Chinese to facilitate communication with residents in Mandarin, Cantonese, and Fuzhou dialect.
On that day, several other Chinese-American officers were also promoted. Eric Liang, who works in the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group (SRG), was promoted to Sergeant. He expressed gratitude to his superiors and colleagues for their support. Born in New York to parents from Guangzhou, Liang joined the NYPD in 2016 after graduating from Stony Brook University in 2010. Liang highlighted the diverse and challenging nature of police work, finding satisfaction in helping others and continuously enhancing his skills to meet the demands of the job.
In response to the addition of Chinese-American senior officers within the NYPD, the Asian American Police Executives Council (AAPEX) also issued a statement congratulating them.