Fred Lau

Born|

Fred Harry Lau

(1949-06-26) June 26, 1949 (age 74)

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
| Transcriptions

Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin| Liú Bǎi Ān
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping| Lau4 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[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]

Fred Lau as police chief.

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]

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. January 3, 2006. Archived from the original on January 3, 2006. Retrieved April 19, 2016.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
3. ^ a b "S.F. police chief given somber sendoff". SFGate. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
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. July 10, 1996. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
7. ^ "What San Francisco Can Do About Gangs | SF Public Defender". sfpublicdefender.org. March 20, 2008. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
8. ^ "Public Service | Gator Greats".
9. ^ "A few credits short in the school for scandal". SFGate. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
10. ^ "Hall of Fame - 1997 | Alumni Relations". alumni.sfsu.edu. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
11. ^ "Model Minority for Mayor?! | Poor Magazine". www.poormagazine.org. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
12. ^ http://www.ucpress.edu/op.php?isbn=9780520036260|pages[permanent dead link] 227-232
13. ^ "The Golden Dragon Restaurant Massacre - FoundSF". www.foundsf.org. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
14. ^ "Shielded from Justice: San Francisco: Police Administration".
15. ^ "S.F. Pays big when cops shoot civilians". December 29, 1996.
16. ^ "PAGE ONE -- Brown's First Big Test -- Picking New Police Chief / Insiders betting promotion will come from within". December 15, 1995.
17. ^ "PENINSULA INSIDER -- Fang Family Occupying Hot Seat / Their newspapers back her opponent, Griffin says". March 13, 1996.
18. ^ Hatfield, Larry D. (January 19, 1996). "Mayoral family has first spat". SFGate. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
19. ^ Wildermuth, John (September 19, 2010). "Chinatown's Champion". SFGate.com. Hearst Newspapers.
20. ^ "S.F. Police chief quits to take U.S. Airport job / Lau 1st Asian American to run department". June 21, 2002.
21. ^ Semissourian[dead link]
22. ^ Modern Luxury[dead link]
23. ^ Derbeken, Jaxon Van (May 19, 2002). "SFPD dead last in solving violent crime". SFGATE. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
24. ^ "SFPD struggles to solve violent crimes. Category: Features from the Berkeley Daily Planet".
25. ^ "Legislative Analyst Report - Police Investigative Procedures (File # 0120869) | Board of Supervisors".
26. ^ McCormick, Erin; Finnie, Chuck; Gordon, Rachel (July 29, 1997). "Cops Say Group Bike Needs Permits". SFGATE. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
27. ^ "24 More Airport Czars Appointed | Aero-News Network".
28. ^ 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)
29. ^ "Port of Oakland and TSA Showcase State-of-the-Art Checked Baggage Screening System at Oakland International Airport". June 22, 2006.
30. ^ 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.
31. ^ "DHS Asian American Pacific Islander Network Home". Archived from the original on May 7, 2013.
32. ^ "Officers | NAAALEC". www.naaalec.org. Retrieved July 2, 2018.

## External links[edit]

* Fred Lau's Connections, A Conversation on SFGate from November 26, 2000

Police appointments

Preceded by

Anthony Ribera

|  Chief of San Francisco Police Department
1996–2002  | Succeeded by

Prentice E. Sanders