The community blessed for two Chinese American Police Chiefs in a row to lead San Francisco Police Department

SAN FRANCISCO — Derrick Lew, Deputy Chief and a 22-year police officer devoted his career to fighting crime, was named as the incoming Chief of the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD). The community is so blessed for two Chinese American Police Chiefs in a row including Interim Police Chief Paul Yep to lead the San Francisco Police Department.

Looking back for the past decade, the Asian community in the city has suffered setbacks on public safety that community members and seniors have been victimized in anti-Asian violence as well as Asian officers have remained underrepresented in management positions in the SFPD.

Mayor Daniel Lurie announced on December 3 the appointment of Lew to be the City's next police chief following a 6-month search nationwide after former Police Chief Bill Scott stepped down in June.

Lew will officially begin to serve as Chief at SFPD on December 22, 2025. Interim Chief Yep, who has been in charge of SFPD since June in 2025, will remain at the police department as an advisor during transition.

A press and welcoming event was held on December 4 on the steps of Hall of Justice at 850 Bryant Street for the introduction of incoming Police Chief Lew. Dozens of Lew's fellow officers, city officials and community leaders were present to show their support for the appointment.

"Growing up in San Francisco, I had no idea my career would lead me to this moment," Lew said in his remarks at the Hall of Justice where he has spent significant time of his career working as an investigator at the SFPD. "It is truly the honor of a lifetime and I'm thrilled to lead a department that is the gold standard in policing. A place where our officers are proud to work and ultimately to ensure San Francisco is the safest city in America."

Lew's appointment was not a surprise to the rank and file of the SFPD and the outside communities closely connected with the SFPD since the name list of candidates who submitted applications for the permanent chief position was made public. Lew stood out as one of the top candidates due to his dedication, integrity, competence and extensive experience in the SFPD. He became one of the three finalists recommended by the Police Commission to Lurie who made the final choice to select Lew.

"From the first day in office, I said that public safety is my top priority," said Lurie at the event. "And because of the hard work of the men and women of the SFPD and the leaders and partners standing with me today, we are making real progress."

"Today marks the beginning of a new era for the police department and our city," Lurie continued. "When I took office the department was 500 officers short and on the cusp of a major transition at the highest levels. Our task in this process wasn't just to find a new police chief. Our task was to find the next generation of leaders to keep our city safe."

In 2023, Lew was promoted to Commander to oversee the Drug Market Agency Coordination Center (DMACC), an operation against open-air drug dealing.

Lew played a direct role in the strategic expansion of DMACC into the Mission, coordinating with California Highway Patrol, the Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, according to Lurie.

In May 2025, Lew was promoted to Deputy Chief leading the Field Operations Bureau, overseeing SFPD patrols at all 10 district police stations and DMACC. "In this role he stepped up once again coordinating across agencies as acting chief when needed and acting as a steady hand," Lurie said.

"Derrick Lew walked a beat, ran major operations, led complex investigations and built enduring partnerships across the city with a commitment to community policing," said Lurie. "He is a decorated officer having been awarded the police medal of valor for his courage in the line of duty."

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Lew was once near killed in 2006 by Charles Breed, an alleged Western Addition gang member and cousin of former Mayor London Breed, who was the gunman in a shootout in Bayview and killed two people on that day.

Lew and his partner Fabian Fowler responded to the incident. Lew was targeted by the gunman and a round of bullet had ripped through his jacket. Fowler shot and killed the gunman. Both Lew and Fowler received medals of honor for their roles in the incident.

Yep praised Lew as "truly exceptional talent" as they have served together at the police department. "He has spent his entire 2-decade plus career in the SFPD and demonstrated the professionalism and bravery of an exemplary police officer," said Yep.

"He has always had a stellar reputation. He is respected and admired for his outstanding police work over the years," said Yep of Lew. "As an officer, he worked some of the most dangerous assignments and faced a near fatal incident to make our streets safer and to protect our communities."

Yep called Lew "a fierce crime fighter." "Derrick Lew is humble and understated, never seeks credit or attention for his work. As an investigator, he was laser focused, putting together cases like complex puzzles to hold criminals accountable and to make our streets safer," said Yep.

Lew, 52, was born in San Francisco and grew up in the Richmond District. Lew talked about his roots in San Francisco in an interview with Wind Newspaper in January 2022 when he was promoted to Captain and assigned to the Ingleside station.

Lew's grandparents came to the United States in their teens from Guangdong as first generation immigrants.

After graduating from Saint Ignatius College Preparatory, a prestigious Catholic high school in Sunset District, Lew left for the east coast for college at Boston University and majored in Finance. He decided to come back to his hometown for his career after finishing his college education.

Lew worked in the finance industry for several years. One day he decided to apply to the Police Department. He has no family members or friends in the field of law enforcement.

"I joined the SFPD in 2003, two years after the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York City. I believe the terrorist attacks more or less played a role behind me becoming a police officer to serve the community," said Lew in the interview. “I was born in San Francisco. I really wanted to serve my community. I only applied to the San Francisco Police Department."

Lew served at Ingleside, Mission, and Bayview Stations as a young patrol officer and Central Station as a Sergeant and investigator prior to his promotion to Lieutenant and Captain. He had requested to be transferred to Bayview Station, which is seen as one of the busiest stations in the city.

In his remarks for his appointment as incoming Police Chief, Lew said, "As the grandson of Chinese immigrants who were able to start and run a successful small business and send their children to top schools and in essence to achieve the American dream, I have always felt a deep gratitude to the city of San Francisco."

"The city provided opportunities for my grandparents to overcome language and cultural barriers and to make great lives for their children. I was a direct beneficiary of this opportunity," Lew said.

"I love growing up in San Francisco and I usually managed to avoid the attention of SFPD officers. I always admired them for their dedication and selflessness," Lew said. "I decided to join their ranks myself because I've always believed in accountability and that by holding those engaging in criminal activities accountable. We ultimately deter crime and restore justice for victims."

"We have work to do. But we're also seeing the fruits of our labor. Crime is down. More recruits are in the academy now than any time since the pandemic. We're using technology to take this department into the future and to solve some of the city's most challenging crimes," Lew added. "I truly believe we are entering a golden era in San Francisco."

Fred Lau, who was appointed by former Mayor Willie Brown in 1996, made history as the first Asian and Chinese American Police Chief in the history of San Francisco. Heather Fong, who was appointed by then Mayor Gavin Newsom in 2004 and retired in 2009, also made history as the first and only female Police Chief in San Francisco.

Sixteen years later after Fong retired, Interim Police Chief Yep and incoming Chief Lew were named respectively to head the police department in 2025. Lew becomes the third Asian/Chinese American Police Chief in the City's history.

Members of the Chinese and Asian communities are excited to see two outstanding Chinese American officers appointed to the top position in the police department that carry profound meanings for them.

During the past decade, the Asian community has suffered from numerous incidents of anti-Asian hate and violence. Justice has not been served for many Asian victims, who were mostly seniors and women. In the meantime, fewer Asian officers were promoted to management positions in the SFPD for making decisions and developing strategies to combat racial-related crimes against Asians.

One of the latest anti-Asian attacks occurred on July 3, 2023 in Bayview. 63-year-old monolingual Chinese immigrant woman Yan Fang Wu was pushed to death by 43-year-old African American suspect Thea Hopkins when Wu got off the bus and walked home on Third street.

Both the SFPD and District Attorney's Office first concluded that Wu's death was an accident after an interview was conducted in which Hopkins argued that she tripped falling onto Wu when she ran to catch the T-Third line bus.

Wu's husband, who was also an eyewitness of the incident, was so sad and disappointed about the conclusion and returned to China.

Nine months later on March 4, 2024, another monolingual Chinese immigrant woman who was 71 years old was violently assaulted from behind in the neck, head and face and thrown to the ground by Hopkins until the victim lost consciousness on the ground. The suspect fled from the scene.

The Asian community was outraged again and demanded former Mayor London Breed, then Police Chief Bill Scott and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins to reopen Wu case for investigation and release related videos.

It took seven months for both Scott and Jenkins to announce the decision of the second phase of investigation on Wu case on December 11, 2024. Hopkins was only charged with one count of assault and one count of battery without manslaughter or murder in the Wu case. Those charges would result in no jail time.

"Mayor Lurie has made a great and right decision to appoint Lew to head the police department," said Robert Chiang, a Chinatown leader active both in the family associations and Chinese Chamber of Commerce. "I have known Derrick [Lew] for years. He was born in San Francisco and grew up in my neighborhood. He knows all communities well. He is competent, fair, well-liked and talented to serve as our next Police Chief."

Marlene Tran, Visitacion Valley leader focusing on public safety for over three decades, shared her experience working with Lew in 2022 to 2023 when he served as the Captain of Ingleside Station.

"When then newly appointed Captain Lew visited Leland Ave, he surprised me by saying that as a rookie years before, he remembered using my Leland garage space temporarily, where I had offered for free as a kind of 'police kiosk' to enable our non- and limited- English speaking residents to report crimes," said Tran.

Back in those days, "I proposed this idea out of desperation because several of my former ESL/ Citizenship class students were victims of homicides in addition to many crimes perpetrated against them," said Tran. "Given Captain Lew’s exceptional abilities, it’s understandable why he was quickly promoted to lead other police divisions. Although then Commander Lew had increasingly more responsibilities, we’re grateful that he set aside time to attend our API Police Forum meetings as well."

Tran was also pleased that Mayor Lurie acknowledged "the extraordinary services of Interim Police Chief Paul Yep". "Chief Yep has earned the respect and gratitude of many people as well. We, San Franciscans, are very blessed to have such exceptional command leaders as Police Chiefs Paul Yep and Derrick Lew!" said Tran.