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Fred Lau

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Fred Lau
Born
Fred Harry Lau

(1949-06-26) June 26, 1949 (age 75)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Alma materCity College of San Francisco
San Francisco State University (B.A.)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese劉百安[1]
Simplified Chinese刘百安
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinLiú Bǎi Ān
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingLau4 Baak3 On1

Fred Harry Lau (born June 26, 1949) is a former Chief of Police for San Francisco, having served from 1996–2002.[2] He was the first Asian American to ever hold that position, and has been called the first Chinese-American to lead the police in any major American city.[3] In 2013, he became the TSA Federal Security Director of the San Francisco International Airport.

Biography

Early life and education

A third-generation San Franciscan and Cantonese speaker, Lau was born at San Francisco Chinese Hospital in Chinatown, San Francisco; he grew up in and around his family's business (Wing Duck Import/Export) on Grant Avenue in Chinatown.[4][5] He attended Garfield Elementary and Francisco Middle schools, graduating from Galileo High School.[6] As a teenager, he participated in the American Friends Service Committee anti-gang Youth for Service program.[7] He attended and graduated from City College of San Francisco,[8] and eventually obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1997 from San Francisco State University.[9][10]

San Francisco Police

After successfully challenging a 5'8" height requirement[11] in 1970, Lau entered the SF Police Academy in 1971 and joined the San Francisco Police Department following graduation, becoming the fifth Chinese-American member of the SFPD.[12] It is not documented whether Lau participated in the 1975 police-officers strike, although supervisors, inspectors and African-American officers were non-participants.[13] He became an inspector-sergeant, eventually rising to head the SFPD Bureau of Inspectors. As a lieutenant, he headed the sniper unit. In 1977, he was assigned to the SFPD Gang Task Force after the Golden Dragon Massacre.[14] Lau served on the SFPD Discharge Review Board until 1995; this panel came under severe scrutiny in San Francisco Examiner articles for failing to hold officers accountable in police-involved shootings.[15][16]

Police Chief

Fred Lau as police chief.

In 1996, as one of new Mayor Willie Brown's first official moves,[17] Lau was appointed as the first Asian-American chief of the 2,300-man department; possibly as a result of lobbying by AsianWeek publishers who supported Brown and Terrence Hallinan during the elections.[18] Chinatown activist Rose Pak threatened to withdraw support for the S.F. Giants' proposed Pac Bell Park if Mayor Brown didn't fire a political consultant hostile to Lau.[19][20]

Lau served six years as chief from 1996–2002. Among Lau's successes as chief have been mentioned the implementation of domestic violence and hate-crimes units,[21] as well as a crackdown on extortion in Chinatown.[22] He appointed fellow Gang Task Force member (and future SFPD chief) Heather Fong to be captain of SFPD Central Station.[23] San Francisco Chronicle ran a series of articles criticizing the SFPD and Lau's leadership for nationally worst performance in solving violent crimes;[24] at the time Lau claimed that contractual seniority-based work rules and lack of off-hours justice solutions were key factors for the poor results.[25][26] Lau was also associated with initiating and promulgating the politically SFPD policy of arresting participants in the Critical Mass (cycling) demonstrations.[27]

TSA

After leaving the SFPD in July 2002, he was sworn as Federal Security Director with the TSA, overseeing staff at Oakland, Stockton, Sonoma County, and Modesto airports.[28] He oversaw implementation of security screening at Oakland in 2002,[29] and explosive detection for checked-baggage in 2006.[30] In July 2013, he became Federal Security Director for SFO.[31]

Associations

Lau serves on the Advisory Board of the DHS Asian American Pacific Islander Network (DHS AAPIN),[32] and is a senior advisor to the National Association of Asian American Law Enforcement Commanders.[33]

References

  1. ^ 李昆明 金山史上第一位亞裔警察 (in Chinese). 世界新聞網 (World Journal). August 21, 2011. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  2. ^ "AsianWeek.com: Feature: Fred Lau". WayBack Machine. 2006-01-03. Archived from the original on January 3, 2006. Retrieved 2016-04-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ "S.F. police chief given somber sendoff". SFGate. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  4. ^ Lim, Ji Hyun (January 11, 2002). "The Art of Leadership". AsianWeek. Archived from the original on January 17, 2002. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  5. ^ "Tam readied plans to flee". San Francisco Examiner. May 3, 1978. p. 14. Retrieved July 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Fred Lau overcame height restrictions to fulfill dream of joining force". SFGate. 1996-07-10. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  7. ^ "What San Francisco Can Do About Gangs | SF Public Defender". sfpublicdefender.org. 20 March 2008. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  8. ^ "Public Service | Gator Greats".
  9. ^ "A few credits short in the school for scandal". SFGate. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  10. ^ "Hall of Fame - 1997 | Alumni Relations". alumni.sfsu.edu. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  11. ^ "Model Minority for Mayor?! | Poor Magazine". www.poormagazine.org. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  12. ^ "S.F. police chief given somber sendoff". SFGate. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  13. ^ http://www.ucpress.edu/op.php?isbn=9780520036260%7Cpages [permanent dead link] 227-232
  14. ^ "The Golden Dragon Restaurant Massacre - FoundSF". www.foundsf.org. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  15. ^ "Shielded from Justice: San Francisco: Police Administration".
  16. ^ "S.F. Pays big when cops shoot civilians". 29 December 1996.
  17. ^ "PAGE ONE -- Brown's First Big Test -- Picking New Police Chief / Insiders betting promotion will come from within". 15 December 1995.
  18. ^ "PENINSULA INSIDER -- Fang Family Occupying Hot Seat / Their newspapers back her opponent, Griffin says". 13 March 1996.
  19. ^ Hatfield, Larry D. (1996-01-19). "Mayoral family has first spat". SFGate. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  20. ^ Wildermuth, John (September 19, 2010). "Chinatown's Champion". SFGate.com. Hearst Newspapers.
  21. ^ "S.F. Police chief quits to take U.S. Airport job / Lau 1st Asian American to run department". 21 June 2002.
  22. ^ http://www.semissourian.com/story/129348.html [bare URL]
  23. ^ http://www.modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/the-chief-the-mayor-and-the-meddlers
  24. ^ Derbeken, Jaxon Van (2002-05-19). "SFPD dead last in solving violent crime". SFGATE. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  25. ^ "SFPD struggles to solve violent crimes. Category: Features from the Berkeley Daily Planet".
  26. ^ "Legislative Analyst Report - Police Investigative Procedures (File # 0120869) | Board of Supervisors".
  27. ^ McCormick, Erin; Finnie, Chuck; Gordon, Rachel (1997-07-29). "Cops Say Group Bike Needs Permits". SFGATE. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  28. ^ "24 More Airport Czars Appointed | Aero-News Network".
  29. ^ California, Berkeley Daily Planet, Berkeley. "Oakland airport gets federal screeners. Category: Features from The Berkeley Daily Planet". www.berkeleydailyplanet.com. Retrieved 2018-07-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  30. ^ "Port of Oakland and TSA Showcase State-of-the-Art Checked Baggage Screening System at Oakland International Airport". 22 June 2006.
  31. ^ Lum, Nelson (January 2014). "Director Fred Lau: A Man Who Simply Achieves, Grand Marshal of 2014 Lunar New Year Parade" (PDF). Cathay Dispatch. pp. 1, 7–8. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 17, 2017.
  32. ^ "DHS Asian American Pacific Islander Network Home". Archived from the original on 2013-05-07.
  33. ^ "Officers | NAAALEC". www.naaalec.org. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
Police appointments
Preceded by Chief of San Francisco Police Department
1996–2002 		Succeeded by
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