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Fred Lau
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Fred Lau | |||||||||||
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| Born | Fred Harry Lau June 26, 1949 San Francisco, California, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Alma mater | City College of San Francisco San Francisco State University (B.A.) | ||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 劉百安[1] | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 刘百安 | ||||||||||
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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
[edit]Early life and education
[edit]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
[edit]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.[3] It is not documented whether Lau participated in the 1975 police-officers strike, although supervisors, inspectors and African-American officers were non-participants.[12] 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.[13] 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.[14][15]
Police Chief
[edit]
In 1996, as one of new Mayor Willie Brown's first official moves,[16] 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.[17] 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.[18][19]
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,[20] as well as a crackdown on extortion in Chinatown.[21] He appointed fellow Gang Task Force member (and future SFPD chief) Heather Fong to be captain of SFPD Central Station.[22] San Francisco Chronicle ran a series of articles criticizing the SFPD and Lau's leadership for nationally worst performance in solving violent crimes;[23] 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.[24][25] Lau was also associated with initiating and promulgating the politically SFPD policy of arresting participants in the Critical Mass (cycling) demonstrations.[26]
TSA
[edit]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.[27] He oversaw implementation of security screening at Oakland in 2002,[28] and explosive detection for checked-baggage in 2006.[29] In July 2013, he became Federal Security Director for SFO.[30]
Associations
[edit]Lau serves on the Advisory Board of the DHS Asian American Pacific Islander Network (DHS AAPIN),[31] and is a senior advisor to the National Association of Asian American Law Enforcement Commanders.[32]
References
[edit]- ^ 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.
- ^ "AsianWeek.com: Feature: Fred Lau". WayBack Machine. January 3, 2006. Archived from the original on January 3, 2006. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b "S.F. police chief given somber sendoff". SFGate. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
- ^ Lim, Ji Hyun (January 11, 2002). "The Art of Leadership". AsianWeek. Archived from the original on January 17, 2002. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
- ^ "Tam readied plans to flee". San Francisco Examiner. May 3, 1978. p. 14. Retrieved July 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Fred Lau overcame height restrictions to fulfill dream of joining force". SFGate. July 10, 1996. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
- ^ "What San Francisco Can Do About Gangs | SF Public Defender". sfpublicdefender.org. March 20, 2008. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
- ^ "Public Service | Gator Greats".
- ^ "A few credits short in the school for scandal". SFGate. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
- ^ "Hall of Fame - 1997 | Alumni Relations". alumni.sfsu.edu. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
- ^ "Model Minority for Mayor?! | Poor Magazine". www.poormagazine.org. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
- ^ http://www.ucpress.edu/op.php?isbn=9780520036260%7Cpages [permanent dead link] 227-232
- ^ "The Golden Dragon Restaurant Massacre - FoundSF". www.foundsf.org. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
- ^ "Shielded from Justice: San Francisco: Police Administration".
- ^ "S.F. Pays big when cops shoot civilians". December 29, 1996.
- ^ "PAGE ONE -- Brown's First Big Test -- Picking New Police Chief / Insiders betting promotion will come from within". December 15, 1995.
- ^ "PENINSULA INSIDER -- Fang Family Occupying Hot Seat / Their newspapers back her opponent, Griffin says". March 13, 1996.
- ^ Hatfield, Larry D. (January 19, 1996). "Mayoral family has first spat". SFGate. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
- ^ Wildermuth, John (September 19, 2010). "Chinatown's Champion". SFGate.com. Hearst Newspapers.
- ^ "S.F. Police chief quits to take U.S. Airport job / Lau 1st Asian American to run department". June 21, 2002.
- ^ "Semissourian". Archived from the original on September 18, 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
- ^ "Modern Luxury". Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
- ^ Derbeken, Jaxon Van (May 19, 2002). "SFPD dead last in solving violent crime". SFGATE. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
- ^ "SFPD struggles to solve violent crimes. Category: Features from the Berkeley Daily Planet".
- ^ "Legislative Analyst Report - Police Investigative Procedures (File # 0120869) | Board of Supervisors".
- ^ McCormick, Erin; Finnie, Chuck; Gordon, Rachel (July 29, 1997). "Cops Say Group Bike Needs Permits". SFGATE. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
- ^ "24 More Airport Czars Appointed | Aero-News Network".
- ^ California, Berkeley Daily Planet, Berkeley. "Oakland airport gets federal screeners. Category: Features from The Berkeley Daily Planet". www.berkeleydailyplanet.com. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Port of Oakland and TSA Showcase State-of-the-Art Checked Baggage Screening System at Oakland International Airport". June 22, 2006.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "DHS Asian American Pacific Islander Network Home". Archived from the original on May 7, 2013.
- ^ "Officers | NAAALEC". www.naaalec.org. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
External links
[edit]- Fred Lau's Connections, A Conversation on SFGate from November 26, 2000
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