The ideal of great community relationships between the police department and neighborhoods of any major city in this country is often in stark contrast with the reality. Crime statistics and verifiable incidents are too often recounted in a seemingly endless cycle of false moves, misinterpretations, and bad feelings from those on either side of issues regarding the sometimes strained relationships between police and the public they serve. The end result is more often than not a litany of complaints and demands rather than clear mandates for revolutionary change.

As a 29 year veteran of the Boston Police Department who will be starting his 30th year on September 8, newly appointed (since Apr 29, 2022) Superintendent James K. Chin started his career as a bilingual (Mandarin/English) patrol officer in Mattapan, Dorchester, and Downtown/Charlestown. He spent seven years in the Drug Units of Allston/Brighton and three years as a member of the Bowdoin/Geneva Safe Street Team. During that time, the team was a finalist for the highly prestigious Center for Problem-Oriented Policing Herman Goldstein Award. Superintendent Chin was promoted to Detective in 2010 and served in both the Crimes Against Children and Domestic Violence Units.

While it’s easier to call for revolutionary change than receive it, the first step in any advancement is dialogue. Sampan recently had the opportunity to sit down with Superintendent Chin to talk about growing up in Boston, the importance of public service, role models, Asian representation in the Boston police department, and the road ahead for the Boston Police Department’s Bureau of Community Engagement.

SAMPAN: Tell us about your childhood in Boston and what led you to a career in public service.

CHIN:  I was born and raised in the city. I’m the youngest of four children. My parents immigrated here from China. I grew up in a South End development called Chapman Square. I attended all Boston public schools and played volleyball and basketball for an athletic club in Chinatown and I was a part-time college student before becoming a police officer.

One of my childhood friends became a Boston Police Cadet in 1990. He convinced me to take the exam at the time. I wasn’t interested at the time, but it seemed appealing when he was talking to me. I thought it would be a good career to pursue, to help people and maybe give back to my community. I took the exam and didn’t hear anything back for a couple of years. There’s been a freeze in hiring. In 1993, I received a phone call from a Sgt. Detective asking me if I was still interested in becoming a police officer. When I took the exam, 20,000 other people took it.  I knew I needed to take this opportunity.

SAMPAN: Are you optimistic about Mayor Wu and the Boston City Council’s relationship with the Boston Police Department?

CHIN: Yes. Since Mayor Wu has started, along with a couple of new City Councilors, I believe we’ve been working well with them.

SAMPAN: What could and should Boston do to improve relationships between the public and the police department? Do you have any new initiatives for community engagement?

CHIN: We have always been good at community policing. I think right now we’re heading more into community engagement, which is the bureau I run right now. We’re building more solid relationships with the community and the youth…I’ve always said that your first interaction with a police officer should be a positive one. There are all sorts of narratives out there right now about the police, with social media and everything else. We’ve got a whole different type of avenue we have to work against to try and change that narrative. Working with the youth and building stronger relationships with the community is the direction we should be going in.

In my bureau, we run mentorship-based programs. We have teenagers who are mentored by our officers. When I say “mentoring,” they meet twice a week. We have people who speak with them about all the different possibilities they can take in their lives…The thing with inner city kids is that a lot of them don’t know what’s out there. They believe that the four blocks they live in is their world. We expand on that with the way we mentor them.   A lot of the kids we work with don’t think they’re going to college. After spending some time with us and our officers they start to see life in a whole different direction. We’re just trying to change the trajectory.

SAMPAN: What measures are being taken to identify and confront Asian hate crimes within Boston?

CHIN: We’ve been working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. We have the Civil Right Unit of the Boston Police Department. They head all our investigations pertaining to hate crimes. What we’ve learned is that with Asian hate in particular the hate crimes seem to go unreported. I think that’s more like a cultural thing because some of the Asians come from countries where they don’t trust law enforcement so they won’t report problems. We work with Sampan and a lot of local media to encourage reporting. Your immigration status doesn’t matter. We try to remove the fears of reporting. That’s important.

SAMPAN: Who are your public service role models?

CHIN:  Frank Chin is a staple in Chinatown and he’s always been a role model to me. He’s helped Chinatown build to where it is today. He’s always guided me in the right direction and I attribute some of my success to some of the things he has instilled in me: remember the community and help others. I also think Mayor Wu is a trailblazer, the first Asian female Mayor in the city of Boston. She is a role model to a lot of young Asians. I believe that these people play a large role for the Asian youth in this city.

SAMPAN: What is your particular vision for your job and for the BPD as a whole in the next five years or so?

CHIN: I want to build stronger community relations with the public and definitely change some of the negative narrative that’s out there about the police. I believe the BPD has always been at the forefront of community policing and community engagement and I hope to continue that success.

SAMPAN: What does the future hold for greater Asian representation in the BPD? CHIN:  I hope that I will become a role model and maybe some of the youth will want this type of job. It’s also very cultural, too. I have Asian parents and a lot of Asian parents will push us to become doctors, lawyers, accountants. When I first became a police officer, they sometimes look at it as if they’re still in the old country. They look at it as if you can’t be trusted. My father definitely has changed his mind as he’s seen my success and how our department works worth the community. It’s all educational. When I was young, I was not interested in becoming a police officer because I had no interactions with any of them. I hope I can inspire some young Asians to consider becoming a police officer.