Reprinted with permission from Behind the Badge
By Behind the Badge Staff
When Sahil Singh was a teenager growing up in Santa Ana, he joined the Police Department’s Explorer program.
The program held three meetings a month. Explorers would attend some meetings and not others, their involvement fluctuating.
Singh didn’t miss a single one for nearly four years.
He was so enthusiastic about law enforcement, he also did ride-alongs each week, adjusting his teenage work schedule accordingly. Singh took pride in the Explorer uniform.
Years later, he still does. Now he has another uniform in his wardrobe: that of a bona fide sworn officer.
Today, Officer Singh is a fresh police academy graduate (he finished this past July) with the distinction of being Santa Ana’s first-ever officer of Indian descent.
Singh was born and raised in a small village called Dugri in the state of Punjab, in northern India. He grew up speaking Hindi and Punjabi, but knew little English until he moved to the United States with his family at age 14 in 2016.
His father, a police officer in India, his homemaker mother, and his younger brother settled in Santa Ana at 15th and Durant, near downtown and police headquarters on Civic Center Plaza.
“Where I grew up in Santa Ana, from my balcony, I can see the police department,” Singh said.
His neighborhood was plagued with gang violence, and he saw some of that firsthand. But that exposure encouraged him to do something about it someday by becoming a police officer.
“I want to be there for people on their worst days. I think that kept me motivated ... because nobody’s going to call us on their best days,” Singh said.
Singh’s initial years in the U.S. were difficult because he didn’t understand enough English to get by at school. But his low GPA soon got higher, and after graduating from Nova Academy Early College High School, then Santa Ana College, Singh continued his studies at Cal State Fullerton toward a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.
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He initially looked into joining the LAPD, and was encouraged to gain more experience first. Still, Santa Ana PD was calling him back after his Explorer years. He was hired as a police cadet working in the jails, and was eventually promoted to a part-time correctional officer. That became a full-time correctional officer, where he continued to get more experience in law enforcement — including in speaking English and dealing with people.
“At the end of the day, they’re people as well,” Singh said of those in the jail. “You give respect, you get respect. Respect goes both ways.”
He was promoted to police recruit, where after a brief stint in dispatch, he entered the academy. At that point, Singh had logged many hours in the jails, dispatch, and as an Explorer to make a him a well-rounded candidate.
Currently, Officer Singh patrols the South Coast District as a phase two trainee. He hasn’t had to speak Hindi or Punjabi on the job yet; they’re not common languages in Santa Ana.
Co-workers have commented that Singh embodies the mindset of community oriented policing that Santa Ana PD prides itself on.
Singh’s family is proud of him too. He notes that while many Indian immigrants are doctors, few become police.
“You don’t see an Indian police officer. You’ll see, like, a hundred Indian doctors, but when was the last time you’ve seen an Indian police officer?” Singh said.
He doesn’t take his historic role as a Santa Ana Police Department first lightly.
“It’s a proud moment for me, for what I do. I don’t just represent myself. I represent my community, where I’m from, who I am,” Singh said. “Helping others is my passion. I get to wear this uniform every single day. I feel blessed to be out there helping people.”
