Meet first Fil-Am LA police commander in 150 years

New LAPD Commander Don Graham seen here being congratulated by Office of Operations Project Coordinator for LA Housing Rose Ibanez. Graham is now the police department’s Homeless Coordinator. INQUIRER / Florante Ibanez

LOS ANGELES – Donald Mendoza Graham was promoted to the rank of commander, the first Filipino American to rise to that rank in the Los Angeles Police Department’s 150-year history.

The LA Filipino community celebrated Graham’s promotion with a festive Filipino American History Month luncheon featuring Filipino food, a Doce Pares Eskrima demonstration and choral singing by the Philippine Chamber Singers.  Former Miss America 2001/Miss Hawaii 2000, Angela Baraquio Grey, took time off from her Catholic School principal job to emcee.

Joining police and local officials and Filipino community leaders were members of Graham’s family, including his mother, Amalia, who once expected him to follow in her footsteps and be in the medical field. “I’m so proud, I was scared when he said I want to be a policeman, but he went all the way,” Amalia said.

Commander Graham was born in Manhattan, New York and spent most of his childhood growing up in Bayonne, New Jersey. When he was 14, his mother moved the family to the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. He immediately fell in love with his new, racially and ethnically diverse, cosmopolitan city.

After high school and a short stint in the printing business, Graham started at Los Angeles Valley College where he originally studied music and acting. He soon shifted to Political Science and, in 1992, was elected president of the Student Union.

Graham went on to become the president and chief lobbyist for the California Students Association of Community College, representing the nearly quarter million community college students in the 14 campuses of the Southern California Region.

Senior Lead Officer Floro B. Pinzon, aka “Godfather” for being probably the most senior of the 241 Fil-Am LAPD officers gives new commander Graham the Hawaiian shaka sign of solidarity and approval. INQUIRER / Florante Ibanez

During his last semester at Valley College, Graham went to work at the Campus Police Office and discovered “a new way to serve his community.” Impressed by the integrity he found in the retired Los Angeles Police Department officers that made up the campus police, he decided to follow their path.

Graham was accepted in the November 1995 Academy Class of the Los Angeles Police Department where he was elected president of his class and graduated second in academics. During his nine years as an officer in the Devonshire Area, he worked patrol, the school car, and became officer-in-charge of the Devonshire Volunteer Surveillance Team from 1999-2000.

In July of 2000, Graham was promoted from Police Officer 2 to be Senior Lead Officer of Northridge. During his tenure at Devonshire, he received numerous commendations, including Devonshire Officer of the Year in 2005 for his work at reducing crime at the Northridge Mall.

Graham rose through LAPD’s ranks as Sergeant in 2006, Lieutenant 2012, Captain in 2014, and became Area Commanding Officer of North Hollywood in 2016. On July 31, 2019, Don was sworn in as a Los Angeles Police Commander and appointed by Chief Moore to be the Department’s Homeless Coordinator under the Office of Operations. He resides with this family in the San Fernando Valley Area.

The grand Fil-Am History Month celebration for Command Donald Graham was hosted by the Law Enforcement Association of Asian Pacifics (LEAAP), Los Angeles Filipino Association of Filipino Employees (LAFACE), Filipino Association of Law Enforcement Officers (FALEO-LA), Los Angeles City Employees Association (LACEA), and the Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA).