Actor Erik Estrada played role he always wanted

Actor Erik Estrada poses for pictures after the Bellflower BRAVO Awards program Feb. 11 with Bellflower High School students Lucilla Lopez and Alexander Vasquez. The students were honored for essays on public safety during the program. (Photo by Arnold Adler)

By ARNOLD ADLER, Staff Writer

Story Created: Feb 18, 2010 at 12:24 PM PST

Story Updated: Feb 18, 2010 at 12:24 PM PST

Tools

BELLFLOWER — Actor Erik Estrada wanted to be a police officer as a boy but fell in love with acting as a teen-ager and as an adult ended up portraying a police officer from 1977 to 1983 on the popular TV series “CHiPs” as California Highway Patrol Officer Frank Poncherello.

“It was cool,” said Estrada, now 60, who has done community service for law enforcement agencies since the TV show ended.

“First responders are brave, selfless and dedicated to making their communities safer,” said Estrada, who was the main speaker Feb. 11 at the Bellflower BRAVO awards, which honors acts of valor and outstanding service by police and fire department members and citizens performing acts aiding public safety.

He also praised the first responders as great role models, saying their honors were well deserved.

After his TV stint, Estrada did many promotions on behalf of the firefighters and police officers, such as a car seat effort and for the anti-drug DARE program.

He also promoted a number of charitable groups such as the March of Dimes, the AIDS Project Los Angeles, the Police Athletic League, Big Brothers, Special Olympics, United Way and the Make-A-Wish Foundation,.

“I was always with them,” said Estrada, who five years ago actually underwent training and was sworn in as a reserve police officer in Indiana for a reality TV show.

For the past several years he has been involved with the Virginia-based Safe Surfing and Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which seeks to apprehend sexual predators and child pornographers who use the Internet and to instruct youngsters in Internet safety.

“Compassion is the thread that binds all first responders together,” he said.

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 1000 Characters Left

Los Angeles Wave and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.

On Demand

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.