Cop-turned-prof says he relies on his faith

Jordan Crymes Cole Popov Contributors

AACC criminal justice professor Reynaldo Evangelista remembers hugging the victims of an apartment complex fire as a rookie police officer.

“It was, I guess, unprecedented because many of my colleagues were shocked that I was doing that, you know, and some even had some pushback,” Evangelista recalled of his favorite memory as a police officer at the scene of an apartment fire.

Fellow officers asked him, “What are you doing, Reynaldo? You know, [as] police officers, you’re not supposed to hug citizens.”

Evangelista said he is driven by service rather than ambition.

Evangelista still engages in service work when he’s not teaching at AACC. He is the director of community engagement for the fraternity Iota Phi Theta and serves as a commissioner for the Baltimore City Community Relations Commision. In addition, he is the chief chaplain for the Seat Pleasant Police Department.

Growing up, Evangelista felt called to be a Catholic priest.

“I come from a very Catholic family, [both] Filipino and African American,” Evangelista said. “And in my particular family, someone was always destined to go into a religious life as a priest, a brother or a nun.”

Evangelista’s plans changed after a dispute at a Catholic school where he worked as the vice principal. The incident led him to notice a recruiting ad from the Baltimore Police Department.

“So I gave them a call and I passed the test, and everything went forward from there,” he said.

However, Evangelista said he has faced his share of challenges during his career.

“I think because of perhaps my race [or] my background, I’ve been left out of certain conversations, certain discussions or even certain areas,” he said.

Still, he worked around the challenges, becoming the first person of color to run AACC’s Police Academy.

“Most of my students understand I have a strong faith and I rely on my faith to help me to overcome those challenges and break those walls,” Evangelista said. “Even if I wasn’t asked to be at the table, I put myself at the table.”

Second-year transfer studies student Tommi Bresnahan is one of his students.

“He is very knowledgeable and educated with what he teaches,” Bresnahan said. “You could really tell that just by his lectures and how passionate he is.”

Some students said Evangelista has an upbeat and informative teaching style.

“He relates a lot of things we learn in class to real-life situations,” Bresnahan said.

Dual-enrollment student Julia Demarco said she would take another class with Evangelista.

“He’s very upbeat,” Demarco said. “He’s a really good storyteller and very, like, engaging with what he’s talking about. It’s clear that he knows what’s going on.” Evangelista, who joined AACC 15 years ago, had some advice for students: “Always be driven by service and be driven by what your heart tells you.”

Evangelista also encouraged students to see every opportunity “as a way of investing in your future,” and “always embrace [your] failures.”