Newly Appointed Consul General of the Philippines Meets with Sheriff Baca

12/07/12

Consuls General are representatives of foreign governments who have been appointed to head Consulates General (Consular Posts) in countries outside of their own nation's borders. The Consul General and his/her staff assist foreign nationals in many ways while they are living or traveling outside of their own country. As a very diverse county, Los Angeles is home to at least 98 career and honorary Consulates.

Recently, the newly appointed Consul General of the Philippines in Los Angeles, Consul General Maria Hellen M. Barber-de la Vega, met with Sheriff Lee Baca and shared her enthusiasm about serving the Filipino community in Los Angeles. The Consul General, a career officer of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, was keen to learn about the Department's mission of Public Trust Policing. Likewise, as California's largest Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) ethnic group, it is important for LASD personnel to interact with and learn about the Filipino communityas well as all other nationalities and ethnicities served by the Department.

When Sheriff Baca and other members of the Departments meet and learn from the leaders of Los Angeles' many diverse communities, the Department is better equipped to address and resolve the needs of that particular community.