Rachel Rodriguez, currently serving as assistant commanding officer at the Olympic Police Station, has been selected to lead the division, according to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) on July 24. She will begin as acting captain on July 27 while the formal appointment process is finalized.
Rodriguez, whose mother is Korean, will be the first Korean American commanding officer of the Olympic Division since it opened in 2009. The station oversees Koreatown, making the appointment particularly meaningful for the local Korean American community.
“It’s an honor as a Korean American to take responsibility for leading the division that oversees Koreatown,” Rodriguez said in an interview with The Korea Daily. “I want to work closely with the community to make Koreatown safer and more welcoming.”
Rodriguez said she will formally take over once Brian O’Connor completes his retirement process.
Chang-Yeop Lee, president of the Olympic Boosters Association (OBA), welcomed the news, adding that Javier Sanchez of LAPD’s Internal Affairs Division is expected to fill Rodriguez’s current position.
Rodriguez joined LAPD in 2005 and has worked in patrol, gang enforcement, and administrative roles. In 2022, she served as executive aide to then-Chief Michael Moore, and was promoted to captain in 2023, taking charge of patrol operations at the Southeast Division. She has served as assistant commanding officer of the Olympic Division since June 2023.
BY KYEONGJUN KIM [kim.kyeongjun1@koreadaily.com]
