Jonathan Ng was the first of three brothers to realize their calling was to become police officers. 

Jonathan spent his first year at San Jose State University studying civil engineering because he wanted to follow his father into contracting. But the math courses proved too difficult. Seeking a new major, Jonathan tried a justice studies class. 

He was hooked.

“I gave it a try and really enjoyed being in class, learning about society and different theories of crime,” Jonathan says. “One of the graduation requirements was serving as an intern and I chose SFPD. I got to see the ins and outs of police work from the detective side of things. That cemented my decision to be a police officer.”

Today, Jonathan serves Sunset residents at Taraval Police Station. He has been a police officer for 16 years.

This job keeps you young,” says Ng, 38. “You’re constantly exercising your critical thinking skills. There are so many different experiences you have to respond to. Every call is different, and as a responding officer, your response must be calibrated for the best result.”

While Jonathan became a police officer right out of college, his younger brother became an engineer. 

“I always talked with him about the nobility of police work, about seeing my work as a calling,” Jonathan says. “He saw the benefits of having a decent-paying job and helping people.”

Four years ago, Jonathan’s younger brother decided to switch careers and become a police officer. They serve together at Taraval station. 

Now, Jonathan’s older brother has been inspired to join SFPD. He recently applied to the police academy after a corporate career in computer science.

Jonathan encourages making a change in life to apply to SFPD. The department is hiring and welcomes mid-career applicants because of their life experience. One of Jonathan’s colleagues, Officer Drewkai Butler, became a police officer at age 43 after a career in tech. Officer Butler’s story is told here.

Family ties
Jonathan’s parents were immigrants from China. They were very poor and couldn’t afford to raise Jonathan when he was a young child, so they sent him back to Hong Kong to be raised by his grandmother. When his parents were financially stable, they brought him back to San Francisco.

“My dad worked in Chinese restaurants when he first came to the United States. My mom worked as a babysitter and sometimes lived in churches,” says Jonathan. “They eventually got decent jobs and were able to realize the middle-class American dream. And they were able to raise three boys.”

Demands of the job
Jonathan says he finds police work rewarding, even with the frustrations of SFPD being severely short-staffed. The department is short more than 500 officers for a city of San Francisco’s size. 

“I’m supposed to be a footpatrol officer and my area is the Irving Street corridor,” Jonathan says. “Prior to the department’s shortage of officers, I was able to be assigned to Irving Street pretty much full time. I would walk around, get to understand the community’s needs. I was the person the merchants could talk to. But with the staffing shortage, now I'm constantly in a patrol car and basically driving around the whole Sunset and answering calls. Only once in a while can I get out in the community on footpatrol the way I used to.”

Policing philosophy
Jonthan’s philosophy of policing is to focus on prevention.

“The emphasis should not be on how many arrests we make but how few crimes there are,” Jonathan says. “Deterrence and prevention should be the goals.”

Building trust with the community is essential. 

“Our role is to respect all communities, build friendships, and provide friendly service to everybody,” Jonathan says. “When we go to work, we give our full attention to the public. The community is our workplace. When you can't build relationships, it feels like you’re not doing your job.”

For Jonathan, his job is about customer service and being empathetic to the concerns of victims.

“When I leave a call, a part of me asks, how could we have done this better?” Jonathan says. “We have to do the best customer service we can. If you’ve been victimized — if somebody has punched you in the face — I can’t go back in time and stop you from being punched. But I can give you my full attention, show concern, show that as a police department we’re listening. Sometimes spending a little more time with the victim, another 10 minutes just talking to the person, can make a difference in their life going forward.”

NOTE: The San Francisco Police Department is hiring. Learn more here.

Reported and written by volunteer community journalist Tom Colin. We encourage residents with journalism experience, retired journalists, and student journalists in high school and college to volunteer as writers for Supervisor Engardio’s newsletter. Interested? Apply here. Do you know a story you would like to see featured in the newsletter? Tell us about it here.