Heather Fong

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Heather Fong is the first female chief of police for San Francisco. She is also the first Asian American woman to ever head a large metropolitan police force.

Heather Fong (方宇文; pinyin: Fāng Yǔwén) is chief of police for San Francisco, California, United States. She is the first woman to lead the San Francisco Police Department, and the first Asian American woman to head a major metropolitan city police force. She is also the second Asian police chief in SFPD history, the other being Fred Lau.

Born in 1956 and raised in San Francisco, Chief Heather Fong holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of San Francisco and a master’s degree in Social Work from San Francisco State University. She served as a Police Activities League Cadet and Civil Service Police Cadet prior to entering the Department. She was sworn in as a Police Officer in 1977, and worked through the ranks of inspector, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, commander, deputy chief, assistant chief, acting chief and, now permanent chief. During her career, she has been assigned to patrol, served as an Academy training officer and instructor, child abuse investigator, youth programs coordinator, drug education instructor, grant writer, strategic planner, district station watch commander and commanding officer.

Chief Fong was assigned to the Special Operations Division in August 1998 when she was promoted to commander. While there, she was responsible for the Traffic, Tactical and MUNI Transit companies. In June 2000, upon promotion to deputy chief, she was assigned to the Field Operations Bureau, where she managed the uniformed patrol personnel of the San Francisco Police Department. In August 2002, she was assigned to oversee the Administration Bureau. In May 2003, she was appointed Assistant Chief of Police. Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed her Acting Chief of Police on January 22, 2004 and Chief of Police on April 14, 2004.