Amritsar man first to join Vegas police

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 25

Failures are the pillars of success but always be alert of taking best advantage of an opportunity that comes your way. That’s what Rishi Kapoor did to achieve his aim of joining the police force in the US.

Born and brought up in Amritsar, 39-year-old Rishi is the first Indian to be appointed with the University Police Services’ Southern Command, a new department in Las Vegas created as part of the consolidation of police forces in all higher education institutions and state colleges in the state of Nevada.

Talking to The Tribune from Las Vegas, he said, “To me, this is a dream job andI absolutely love it. I am proud to be the only Indian in the department. When I appeared for the interview, the first question the panel asked me was that why I chose to join the police force? And my answer was that back home, I have been raised in a family where there was immense respect for the uniform. My grandfather, uncle and cousin were in the Army and the first child of the family would go for forces. I was unable to make it to the Indian police force, but this aim was achieved in the US. Wearing a uniform and badge is the different level feeling.”

But it was not an easy task for Rishi. A product of DAV College in Amritsar, he excelled in sports too and represented Guru Nanak Dev University in the inter-university boxing championships and won gold medals.

Belonging to a mediocre family here, he moved to the US in 2009. In his early days, he did petty jobs to make both ends meet.

“With hardly any support system in the US, I have seen a pretty rough phase. I worked as a busser at restaurants, washed and picked dirty dishes that too seven days a week. But I didn’t lose hope and kept looking for opportunities and got police training,” Rishi added.

After successfully completing the Naveda Post Category 1 Basic Course in Criminal Justice, he was appointed as Police Officer 1 on February 3, 2020.

“I had a tough competition for the University Police Services. My message to the youth is that you should believe in yourself and set your vision to achieve your goals in life. I faced many failures but my wife was the driving force behind me,” he added.