Five Seattle Police officers served as international goodwill ambassadors at the Southwest Precinct this morning – including the entire 3-member SWP Community Police Team. Officers Hoang, Kiehn, Mazzuca, McDaniel, and Nguyen answered questions and served as tour guides for a high-ranking 20-member visiting group from Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security. The visit began with a Q/A session in the precinct’s community room; Officer Hoang, from the downtown-headquartered West Precinct, did most of the interpreting. The questions were mostly operational: How are officers hired? What are the ranks between officer and precinct commander? What are the differences between the precincts? We wish we could report the details in those answers as well as the questions – but most of the former were given directly in Vietnamese. The ministry is accountable for not only “regular” police operations, but

The Public Security Ministry is accountable for an internal-security army as well as regular law enforcers. Before moving on to tour the precinct building, the visitors presented their hosts with gifts – art in honor of the recent celebration of the 1000th anniversary of Vietnam’s capital:

And a plaque bearing the logo of their ministry.

The capital, Hanoi, is where most of the visitors are based, according to a South Seattle Community College liaison who was touring with them. According to Officer McDaniel, their Puget Sound visit included stops at Bellevue PD, Microsoft, Washington State Patrol, SeaTac Airport Security, Kent Correctional Facility, and the Seattle Emergency Preparedness Unit. They’re scheduled to leave this area on Thursday.