page_title: Heather Fong
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Heather Fong / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: Heather Fong, San Francisco Police Chief. Photo by Nancy Wong SPECIAL to the San Francisco Chronicle
context_page_description: Heather Jeanne Fong is the former 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 American police chief in SFPD history, the other being Fred Lau.
  Fong became the Interim San Francisco police chief in January 2004 after Alex Fagan Sr. was reassigned by Gavin Newsom. She became the permanent police chief in April 2004.
  Fong most recently served as the Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for State and Local Law Enforcement, a position she held since November 17, 2014. She left the position at the end of the Obama administration.
context_section_description: 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 then 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.
caption: Heather Fong, San Francisco Chief of Police
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