Cantonese-speaking cop gets degree

UBC Reports, May, 1998

John Cameron – law graduate and 10-year veteran of the Vancouver City police force — was walking the beat in Chinatown one day when he saw someone stealing a VCR from a car.

He gave chase down Main Street and into an alley where he tackled the suspect and put him in handcuffs. Drawn by the commotion, shopkeepers peered cautiously out of their doorways. In a neighborhood traditionally suspicious of the police, Cameron wondered how they would react.

“When they realized what had happened, they started clapping. That told me my message was getting through. This is why I’m here — I’m the good guy.”

Cameron had worked hard at earning that respect.
Now fluent in Cantonese, he started studying the language shortly after he became a police officer and was assigned the Chinatown beat. The Chinese-Canadian family of his future wife had introduced him to the language.
Cameron made headlines in 1993 when he became the first foreign officer admitted to the Royal Hong Kong Police inspector’s Cantonese language training. No one had done it before, but he persisted until he was allowed to enter the three-month program. He completed it with top standing.
Cameron also helped found the Police Community Services Centre on Pender Street. It aims to make police services more accessible and develop strong community ties by offering victim assistance and referrals. The centre earned Cameron an Attorney General’s Distinguished Police Service Award.
Despite his successes, Cameron was frustrated by some aspects of policing. He began to question why the suspects he caught weren’t held in custody longer.
Cameron started writing two-page “show-cause” reports outlining the reasons why the suspects should remain in jail. To his surprise, Crown Counsel would read them to the court verbatim and judges would be swayed.
“That made me realize that there were other ways to fight crime — that there was power in the pen to keep people off the street.”
Cameron considered law school, but aside from a criminal justice diploma from Langara College, he had none of the academic prerequisites.
Again, persistence paid off. Accepted under unusual circumstances as a discretionary applicant, he quickly showed that he belonged, finishing second in his first-year class and winning the Sherwood Lett Memorial Scholarship. The next year, UBC’s Alumni Association gave Cameron its Outstanding Student award.
Cameron maintains a strong interest in China. He returned last year to study international trade law at the University of Hong Kong for a term.