Name: Neil Andrew Phan

Age: 38

Rank: Detective

Appearance:


Background: Phan Cảnh Xê and his wife Thị Gấm fled Vietnam in 1969 to avoid the spreading war and in particular the persecution of Vietnamese Catholics. Eventually, they settled in Seattle, finding some comfort in being among a large population of fellow Vietnamese immigrants while still adapting admirably to the new country. They had four children, who grew up with American names and perfect English- their parents wanted them to fit in.

Neil was the second of four children (older brother Bryan, younger sisters Angela and Janet). A quiet, obedient child, Neil took the most to the Catholic faith out of all of the Phan kids, even briefly serving as an altar boy. His education in the faith, as well as deeply feeling the persecution he suffered as a minority, pushed Neil into a strictly black-and-white view of the world. He became an inflexible moral absolutist- right is right, and wrong is wrong.

Though he had every intention of joining the seminary and becoming a priest himself, Neil felt a different calling. After only completing a year of seminary in Spokane, Neil dropped out and joined the Seattle PD intending to right wrongs and fight evil. He has kept his crusade quiet, for the most part, fearing his colleagues will not understand his religious leanings. Instead he embraces the backslapping "boy's club" aspects of the Police Department, partially in an attempt to prove himself in a largely white profession.

Phan has had a decent career as an officer, though with a higher than average number of brutality inquiries put under his name- Phan feels a great deal of satisfaction in doling out a beating and has more than once gotten a confession through less-than-legal means. On the whole, the department sees him as both a brute and a necessary evil- a man who means well but sometimes goes too far.

Skills:
Investigation- You don't spend twelve years on the force without picking up a trick or two. Phan is no Sherlock Holmes, but he has enough contacts, imagination, and deductive skill to make some solid conclusions.
Boxing- Many people assume Phan, a physically fit Asian man, is an expert martial artist. Neil personally finds that assumption racist, but it is in fact true if you consider boxing to be a martial art. A former Golden Gloves contender, Neil Phan knows how to take and throw a punch with the best of them (just don't expect him to throw any kicks).
Polyglot- Neil has a facility for languages, able to pick up words and phrases very quickly. He is fluent in English and Vietnamese, and can get by in Spanish, Mandarin, and Arabic (Seattle having a large population of Somalis and other Arabic speakers).

Additional Info:
Neil's duty weapon is a department-issued Glock 26 9mm, and he also carries a Smith & Wesson Model 442 .38 revolver as a backup.