One of the things that shocked me when I moved to California was to see Asian American police officers. I don’t think I ever saw one before living on the East Coast. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 9 years now, this is no longer a surprise. Still, rarely do you see the the police chief of a major U.S. city be a woman, let alone an Asian American woman, and that is the case in San Francisco since 2004 when Heather Fong became the first Asian American woman to become the chief of police of a major metropolitan city in the United States. On the news tonight, ABC7 News reports that: “SF police chief skips fire arm training”
“In order to carry a gun, even San Francisco’s chief of police must go through firearm re-qualification every six months. San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong has missed several years of re-training. “I don’t know how many years, but I know that the responsibilities and the duties of the chief are not only demanding but very time consuming and I acknowledge that I have not scheduled that time for re-qualification and that will be handled,” said Fong. Fong said she has notified the San Francisco Police Commission. Its members will meet Wednesday night. They could take disciplinary action against her.”
Every six months sounds quite a bit often to have to re-qualify, but I guess in reality, how often does a police officer actually have to fire a fire arm? There’s no danger of Fong having to give up her position, but she may have to give up her fire arm. I wonder though, how often does a police chief actually have to go out in the field. I would imagine that being police chief is more of an administrative position. I also wonder what kind of stereotypes Fong has had to deal with as well - like if anyone has ever asked her if she knows kung fu? In any case, it is always nice to see an Asian American as a community leader, police chief or not!
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Jim wrote:
I wouldn’t be surprised if most police chiefs and captains from most department have skipped out on range qualification. Why is Heather Fong singled out? Hard to say if it is racism/sexism.
Regardless, if you carry a gun and star, then you must qualify.
Posted on 05-Jun-08 at 7:42 am | Permalink
Jason wrote:
Do you guys seriously get asked if you know kung fu, simply because you are Asian? That really happens?
Ernie mentioned that his quip about Jackie Chan not winning image awards or whatnot was because he was a martial artist and that was kind of a stereotype. And I will admit that I have certain stereotypes about Asians which I feel are positive (good at math, talented musicians, sexually talented women, etc), I never really assumed that all Asians know kung fu or really are any more likely to know martial arts white people. Joe Piscopo, Chuck Norris, Jean Claude and even Steven Seagal…
But….I’m a black guy, (at least for the most part) and I have rarely heard anything about liking chicken or watermelon (though I did marry a white girl and enjoy other positive stereotypes about black men…the few that there are). Do you guys regularly encounter the kung fu stereotype? That just blows my mind.
Posted on 05-Jun-08 at 12:13 pm | Permalink
John wrote:
I remember when I was a kid in Western Massachusetts, being asked a couple of times if I knew karate or kung fu. I don’t know about growing up here on the West Coast. And I’ve never been asked that as an adult.
Posted on 05-Jun-08 at 4:45 pm | Permalink
Efren wrote:
Well, I think I know why she hasn’t been able to do it–but I don’t think I’m at liberty to say.
Posted on 05-Jun-08 at 7:56 pm | Permalink
mike wrote:
If she is a cop, she needs to be held to the same standards that her officers have to follow. I am willing to bet that she has disciplined line officers for the same infraction.
What happens if she fails the qual course? A regular police officer would lose his/her gun and badge until they can pass. Doubt it would happen to her.
Posted on 25-Jul-08 at 8:32 pm | Permalink