Story of Captain Hwang

By Chang Se-moon

Captain Jae S. Hwang, a Korean-American, is running for sheriff of Montgomery County in Maryland, the U.S. Most Korean-Americans work in restaurants, retail sales, laundry cleaning, real estate sales, taekwondo instruction, churches, and professions requiring advanced degree such as CPAs, attorneys and professors.

His candidacy provoked my interest, because it is so unusual to see a Korean-American seek an elected position in law enforcement such as sheriff, especially that of a very wealthy and populous county such as Montgomery, just north of Washington, D.C.

When I first saw his full-page advert in the Oct. 5 issue of the Leisure World News, which is the newspaper of the Leisure World of Maryland where I live, I decided to find out more about Captain Hwang. I called him for an appointment and met him Oct. 17.

Captain Hwang came to the U.S. as a youngster when his parents immigrated to the U.S. in 1984. He attended primary school all the way through to law school in the United States.

While attending the University of Maryland, he went to the Police Academy, and worked the night shift in the Maryland County Police Department. He advanced through the ranks of the department as a patrol officer, and was later appointed to the chief's office as a detective sergeant in internal affairs, handling investigations and allegations of misconduct.

During his time at the police department, Hwang joined the U.S. Army Reserve where he was eventually promoted to the rank of captain, he also obtained a law degree from the University of Baltimore, and passed the bar exam in 2009 to become a full-blown attorney.

He was later promoted to lieutenant in the department, and assigned to the 5th District as deputy commander, located in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Note that Hwang is a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve which is part-time, while he is a full-time lieutenant in the police. His dedicated service has been recognized numerous times.

In September, last year, Hwang was awarded the National Image's Military Meritorious Service Award for his outstanding service in the community. The National Image is a national Hispanic organization established to empower Hispanics through leadership development by advocating for employment, education and civil rights.

According to the award citations, “He speaks three languages fluently, English, Spanish and Korean, and is teaching himself to speak Japanese. He performs his duties with excellence and has selflessly consulted with and represented numerous service members pro bono in contested legal matters where all cases were honorably resolved.”

On Oct. 24, 2017, the Germantown Pulse, which is the newspaper of Germantown just north of Gaithersburg, made the following announcement: “Lieutenant Jae Hwang, a 15-year veteran of the Montgomery County Police Department currently serving as deputy commander of the 5th District in Germantown, has thrown his hat into the ring to run for Montgomery County Sheriff.”

On Jan. 18, this year, the Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the leading chamber of commerce representing over 60,000 Hispanic-owned businesses in the region, celebrated its fifth annual Business Awards Holiday Gala at the Belvedere Hotel in downtown Baltimore. The organization selected nine individuals and businesses for its 2017 Business Excellence Award winners.

The nine categories were business, corporate partner, educator, elected official, county executive, non-profit, professional, small business and rising star. The award for the Outstanding Professional of the Year was given to Hwang.

In May this year, the Federal Asian Pacific American Council awarded the 2018 Military Meritorious Service Awards to 13 individuals for their significant contributions to the advancement of U.S. military missions and the promotion of equal opportunity in the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders communities.

The council is the premier organization representing Asian American and Pacific Islander employees in the federal and Washington, D.C., governments. Hwang was one of the 13, by representing the U.S. Army Reserve.

On Sept. 18, he received a special recognition from Honduras Catracho Festival 2018 in Burtonsville, Maryland, for his service to the community. Married with two children, Hwang has still found time to volunteer as a soccer referee since 2015.

I am very proud of getting to know Capt. (in the Army Reserve) or Lt. (in the Police Department) Hwang. From my interview with him, in Korean, I might add, I am firmly convinced that he is highly intelligent, cares deeply about the community he serves, works tirelessly, and strongly believes in law enforcement and patriotism by staying away from any political partisanship.

Chang Se-moon (changsemoon@yahoo.com) is the director of the Gulf Coast Center for Impact Studies.