It was a hot day in East Los Angeles when Officer Pablo Garcia, 44, was on patrol for the Montebello Unified School District Police Department. Two women called out for his help. A four-year-old infant was locked inside the scorching Chevrolet Silverado.
The crying mom tried breaking the window herself. Neighbors surrounded the car to see what was going on.
She told Garcia to do what he had to do, so he broke the car window with his baton, and rescued the child from inside.
“Giving the baby out to the mom and she’s hugging him [baby], I [took] a step back and [thought] I did something good,” Garcia said, “This job is very selfless, you have to give yourself to the community.”
To Garcia, serving his community is not only his responsibility, but a necessary sacrifice.
The same desire followed his fellow officer Ryan Brown, 29, who said he always wanted to join law enforcement.
Garcia and Brown are the newest El Camino College police officers sworn in Thursday, April 2.
“I’ve always been interested and always took criminal justice courses whenever I could. I think police work is a good outlet for working that,” Brown said.
Brown is a Lawndale native who attended El Camino College Police Cadet Program in 2018 and was promoted to Community Service Officer after a couple of years. He later transferred to California State University of Dominguez Hills, where he got a bachelor’s in administration of justice.
When the position for a police officer opened at ECC, he applied and got the job. He then attended the S.T.A.R Center Sheriffs Academy in Whittier in October 2025 and graduated in March.
On Brown’s first day with the ECCPD, he made two arrests; one of which was for indecent exposure in front of the Student Services Building.
Meanwhile, Garcia grew up in Manhattan Beach, but alternated every two years to live in Jalisco, Mexico. His education was split between the United States and Mexico until attending Mira Costa High School.
After working as a real estate agent for 11 years, Garcia found an interest in law enforcement in 2012.
At 30 years old, he started as a security guard at Cedars-Sinai Hospital for two years.
“I was thinking I was a little older to join the academy. I was afraid physically, I would get injured. It was really tough at the academy, but nothing is impossible,” Garcia said.
He became a non-sworn safety officer for the Los Angeles Unified School District Police Department, serving the MUSD.
He later worked at LAX as a non-sworn police officer, and was then promoted to a police officer, attending the Los Angeles Police Department Academy, graduating in 2019.
Officer Ryan Brown grew up in Lawndale and attended Hawthorne High School. He attended El Camino College in 2018 to join the Police Cadet Program. He later became a Community Service Officer and applied to become a police officer at ECC.
The cadet program is a work study position for eligible students. The responsibilities consist of parking enforcement, after-hour security shuttle services, and staffing the administration building lobby desk. It’s roughly 20 hours a week, paying minimum wage.
“The cadet program introduces people to an insider view of law enforcement. They’re working hand in hand with officers. Like Brown, some decide this is something I want to do as a career,” ECC Chief of Police Matthew Vander Horck, 58, said.
The process to become a police officer requires a series of tests. They must pass a written test, a physical agility test, a background check, a polygraph test, a medical exam, a psychological exam, and an interview process to qualify.
“The responsibility and trust that every police officer is given by this district, the community, and the state of California, you cannot have anybody who is less than utmost integrity,” Vander Horck said.
Garcia and Brown are currently training to learn campus locations, how to respond to calls, take reports, handle calls, show up on scene, and traffic stops alongside senior officers.
“We’re rushing out to help people. When everybody is running away from fear, we’re going towards it. I like putting order in a place of chaos,” Garcia said.
