Inside a Vietnamese shopping mall in Houston, police mobilized Saturday.

Their mission: to recruit Vietnamese police officers – people just like Son Vu.

“Right now, I’m a security officer, but I’d love to join the police department,” Vu said.

As the Vietnamese population increases, HPD says they’re looking for many good men and women.

“We need officers of a diversified ethnic group, but also from the community. We need more Vietnamese officers,” Officer Thanh Phan said.

Of the 5,000 HPD officers, only about 250 are Asian.  Around 200 of those are Vietnamese.

Though they admit it’s a lofty goal, HPD says they’d like to double the Asian presence in the force in the next few years.

Perhaps the biggest challenge to that recruiting goal is culture.

That’s because many older Vietnamese residents have been known to distrust the police.

It’s not a traditional career choice, like being a doctor or lawyer or engineer.

HPD is hoping to change notion that by putting officers like Thanh Phan on the front line.

They’re hoping to bridge the cultural divide by reaching out to Vietnamese men and women, one at a time.