Heather Fong
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Heather Jeanne Fong (, born 1956) is an American security official and the former
chief of police A chief of police (COP) is the title given to an appointed official or an elected one in the command hierarchy, chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. A chief of police may also be known as a police chief or somet ...
for
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
,
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
from 2004 to 2009. She is the first woman to lead the
San Francisco Police Department The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) is the Municipal police, municipal law enforcement agency of the San Francisco, City and County of San Francisco, as well as San Francisco International Airport in San Mateo County, California, San Ma ...
, and the first
Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...
woman to head a major metropolitan city police force. She is also the second
Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...
police chief in SFPD history, the other being Fred Lau. Fong served as the assistant secretary for state and local law enforcement in the
Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...
from July 31, 2023. to January 20, 2025. She previously served in the same role from November 17, 2014 through the end of the Obama administration.


Early life and education

Her ancestral roots are in Ho Chung village, Chung Shan County (now in Zhongshan City),
Guangdong Province ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. In high school, Fong joined the Police Athletic League's cadet academy for two years. She graduated from St. Rose Academy in
Western Addition, San Francisco The Western Addition is a district in San Francisco, California, United States. Location The Western Addition is located between Van Ness Avenue, the Richmond District, the Haight-Ashbury and Lower Haight neighborhoods, and Pacific Heights. ...
in 1974. Fong grew up in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco and holds a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree from the
University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...
and a
Master of Social Work The Master of Social Work (MSW) is a master's degree in the field of social work. It is a professional degree with specializations compared to Bachelor of Social Work (BSW). MSW promotes macro-, mezzo- and micro-aspects of professional social work ...
degree from
San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...
. In college, Fong was a member of the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...
and worked as a police cadet. Fong graduated from the
police academy A police academy, also known as a law enforcement training center, police college, or police university, is a training school for police cadets, designed to prepare them for the law enforcement agency they will be joining upon graduation, or to o ...
on August 15, 1977. At the time, the San Francisco Police Department was under pressure to hire more minorities and women, as they had only two Asian American officers and no female officers in 1974.


Law enforcement career

Shortly after graduating from the police academy, Fong was put on the Golden Dragon massacre case. She transferred to the police academy in 1979 as an instructor. She was placed as one of two female child abuse investigators in 1983 and then worked in the department's planning and community outreach department starting in 1986. In 1992, she worked one year as a youth investigator. She was promoted to lieutenant in 1993, captain in 1994, commander in 1998, deputy chief in 2000, and assistant chief in 2003. In 1996, Chief Fred Lau assigned Fong to captain the department's Central Station, which oversees Chinatown, North Beach, Union Square and the Financial District. 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.


Chief of Police

Mayor
Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...
was impressed with Fong's performance during Fajitagate. After reassigning Alex Fagan Sr., Newsom appointed Fong acting chief of police on January 22, 2004, and chief of police on April 14, 2004. Fong drew criticism in June 2008 for failing to complete firearm recertification for over five years though all San Francisco police officers are required to recertify annually by department regulations. Fong was quoted as saying that she was too busy to recertify. When the controversy erupted in the local media, she was recertified a week later. In 2008, Fong became embroiled in a promotion scandal and faced pushback from SFPD rank and file over her controversial plan to cut the rank of Inspector (equivalent to Detective). About 53 San Francisco police officers filed a complaint with the Civil Service Commission. They tested for Q-35 jobs as inspectors 10 years prior, but Fong has decided to eliminate that position, and fill those investigative roles with Q-50 sergeants. 40 to 50 percent of the knowledge and abilities needed for an inspector were not covered by the sergeants test. The San Francisco Police Commission subsequently determined that Fong had acted improperly, and that personnel from the 1998 Q-35 inspectors list should have been hired instead of sergeants. Litigation is presently ongoing for the plaintiff officers, 39 in total and many part of the original Civil Service Commission complaint who are now retired.


Retirement

Fong announced in December 2008 that she would be stepping down in April 2009, after serving five years as San Francisco's police chief. Fong receives some $264,000 annually in pension payments.Heather Knight
S.F. pays supplemental pensions to retired brass
''San Francisco Chronicle'' (March 13, 2011).
The high amount of pension payments to Fong and other retired top officials in San Francisco's police and fire departments has prompted critical comment.Matier & Ross
S.F. retirees' solid-golden years
''San Francisco Chronicle'' (June 1, 2009).


See also

*
San Francisco Police Department The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) is the Municipal police, municipal law enforcement agency of the San Francisco, City and County of San Francisco, as well as San Francisco International Airport in San Mateo County, California, San Ma ...
* San Francisco Police Officers Association


References


Further reading

*


External links


Official San Francisco government biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fong, Heather 1956 births Living people American people of Chinese descent San Francisco Police Department chiefs San Francisco Police Department officers University of San Francisco alumni San Francisco State University alumni