caption serviceyears death_date death_place birth_place birth_date nickname rank image article_title name department
chang apana born ah ping chang 34 08 december 1933 hawaii waipio , oahu , hawaii 26 december 1871 charlie chan detective chang apana.jpg chang apana
 chang apana honolulu police department
chang apana

chang apana -lrb- december 26 , 1871 -- december 8 , 1933 ; -rrb- was a chinese-hawaiian member of the honolulu police department , first as an officer , then as a detective .
he was acknowledged by earl derr biggers as the inspiration for his fictional asian detective character , charlie chan .
