Fred Lau

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.

Fred Lau
Born
Fred Harry Lau

(1949-06-26) June 26, 1949
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

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 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
  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.
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