East Lansing Police Department Welcomes Two New Officers

Judge Molly Hennessey Greenwalt of 54B District Court swore in two new East Lansing Police Department (ELPD) officers, Officer Cuong Dang-Le and Officer Brennan Surman, during a ceremony held Monday, May 8.

The two officers had graduated from the Mid-Michigan Police Academy at Lansing Community College the past Friday, May 5, and became official ELPD officers with the swearing-in under oath and receiving of their badges.

Police Chief Kim Johnson introduced the men and expressed his gratitude for having them join the department. Chief Johnson spoke of ELPD being short-staffed for the past year and commended his current staff, many of whom were present, for their patience as they continue to bring “the right people through the door.” 

With the addition of Officers Dang-Le and Surman, ELPD will have six more openings left to fill. ELi recently reported ELPD’s staffing has gone up for the last several years, surging from 41 sworn officers in Fiscal Year 2022 (which ran from July 2021 to June 2022) to a plan for a total of 51 sworn officers the next fiscal year, a 24% increase.

Police Chief Kim Johnson shares biographies of the two new ELPD officers.

Officer Cuong Dang-Le is from Lansing and graduated from Michigan State University in December of 2022 with a degree in criminal justice. Before joining ELPD as a PACE officer, Dang-Le worked as a medical technician at Burcham Hills Retirement Community.

“Growing up in an Asian household, there was that stereotype of having to be a doctor or engineer, so I originally chose that route of going to medical school,” Dang-Le said. “Three years into MSU, I felt like it was not the career I wanted to do. But, I still wanted to help others, so I decided to take a break from school and enlist in the Army Reserve. This helped ease my mind and just reflect on what I wanted to do. When I came back, that’s when I switched my major to criminal justice and decided that law enforcement was the right path for me.”

Dang-Le’s “desire to help others” stood out to Chief Johnson and, he said, solidified ELPD’s choice to bring him on board. 

Officer Brennan Surman is from White Lake, Michigan, and graduated from MSU in May 2022 with a bachelor of arts degree in criminal justice and a degree in psychology. He is currently earning his master’s degree at MSU studying Law Enforcement Intelligence and Analytics. 

Surman knew from a young age he would pursue a career in law enforcement.

“I grew up around law enforcement my entire life,” Surman said. “My dad was an officer, my stepdad was an officer and detective, my mom was a dispatcher, so growing up around it really exposed me to it.”

At the swearing-in, Chief Johsnon shared the story of Officer Surman being a child and sleeping in the dispatch center while his mother was working shifts as a dispatcher. 

Following short biographies shared by Chief Johnson, the officers were sworn in by Judge Hennessy-Greenwalt. They took the police oath of office to support the constitution of the United States and of Michigan and to “faithfully discharge the duties of the office of Police Officer according to the best of my ability.”

The officers each had someone of their choosing pin on their new police officer badge. 

Officer Dang-Le had his girlfriend, Sandra Tran, pin on his badge.

“She’d been there for me throughout my whole military enlistment and throughout school and the police academy,” Dang-Le said. “That’s why I chose her to pin on my badge.”

Officer Surman chose his younger sister, Meadow Surman, to pin on his badge. 

“She’s a big motivator and another reason why I chose this profession,” Surman said. “It’s people like her that keep me going. On the days that I’m not quite feeling like myself, she makes me feel like myself and can be that rock for me sometimes.”

Both officers shared they are excited to begin serving the City of East Lansing and to give back to a community that has given them so much.