After successfully challenging a 5 ' 8 " height requirement in 1970 , Lau entered the SF Police Academy in 1971 and joined the San Francisco Police Department following graduation , becoming the fifth Chinese-American member of the SFPD . It is not documented whether Lau participated in the 1975 police-officers strike , although supervisors , inspectors and African-American officers were non-participants . He became an inspector-sergeant , eventually rising to head the SFPD Bureau of Inspectors . As a lieutenant , he headed the sniper unit . In 1977 he was assigned to the SFPD Gang Task Force after the Golden Dragon Massacre . Lau served on the SFPD Discharge Review Board until 1995 ; this panel came under severe scrutiny in '' San Francisco Examiner '' articles for failing to hold officers accountable in police-involved shootings
Golden Dragon Massacre
Golden Dragon massacre
Fred H. Lau