Captain Sergio Chin heads Tenderloin Police Station

(SAN FRANCISCO) Tenderloin is known for its high crime rate, drug activities and homelessness. Captain Sergio Chin has become the new commanding officer of the Tenderloin Police Station and the first Chinese American to head the station.

Chin, who was assigned to the lead the Tenderloin Police Station in October, was part of major transfers within the San Francisco Police Department in recent months. In the meantime, Captain Robert Yick was transferred to head the Taraval Police Station which covers a number of the Asian neighborhoods including Sunset, Oceanview and Excelsior.

Presently Chin, Yick and Derrick Lew, who was promoted to be the Ingleside Station Captain in February this year, representing three of the city’s 10 police Stations’ Captains are Chinese Americans.

Chin is a 28-year veteran of the San Francisco Police Department. Most of his past working experience was in the Investigation Bureau. He was promoted to the rank of Captain in 2018 and was first assigned to head the Special Victims Unit which handles the incidents related to special victims, including seniors, children, domestic violence victims and human trafficking victims.

During his 4-year tenure leading the Special Victims Unit, Chin and his team members had solved a number of the high profile cases targeting the elderly Chinese women victims including blessing scams, rape, aggravated assault and robberies.

One of those victims was 89-year-old Yik Oi Huang who was brutally assaulted and found unconscious by her family members at a playground near her home in the Visitacion Valley in January 2019. Huang died a year later.

Chin was transferred to the Night Investigation Unit in January this year after leading the Special Victim Unit for 4 years and to the Tenderloin Police Station in October. "I also enjoyed the work as a Night Captain. My duty was to respond to major calls and critical incidents occurring at night. I am a night person and have spent significant time working at night since I joined the Police Department," said Chin in the interview.

This is Chin's first time to be the commanding officer in charge of a police station. "Since I got here (Tenderloin Station), I am glad that there are many great leaders and great officers in our station to fight crime. They have worked so hard for the safety of the community. Many of them have stayed at the Tenderloin Station for many years. Some have been here for 28, 29, and 30 years. It makes a difference," Chin thanked his colleagues in the station. "I have been at the Tenderloin Station for 8 weeks. They have confidence in me."

Tenderloin has stood out as a very unique neighborhood in San Francisco, not only for the crimes, drugs and homelessness, but also for its cultural and ethnic diversity. Hispanic and Asian are two largest groups in the Tenderloin with both about 28%. White is 22% and African American is 12%.

Tenderloin Station geographically covers the smallest area among 10 police stations in the city. While most officers are assigned to the Tenderloin Police Station, especially the new police station boundaries were implemented after the Redistricting Task Force adopted the new map of 11 supervisorial districts in July 2022.

Under the new map, Tenderloin Police Station's boundary has been extended from Market Street south to Mission Street. The Westfield Shopping Center is now within Tenderloin Police Station's jurisdiction.

"Tenderloin Police Station is very unique. We receive most 911 calls for service. We have made most arrests. We have most drug dealing activities. We receive most shoplifting reports, because we have many department stores in our district around the Westfield Shopping Center," said Chin.

Since Chin came to the Tenderloin Police Station 8 weeks ago, the top complaints that he received from the communities were related to communication. "They have complained that our officers do not speak with them much," said Chin. He believed it was more a generation issue.

"The young officers are growing up with the new technologies. They like to text messages for communication. They don't talk much," Chin said. So Chin has started and created new ways to communicate with the residents and merchants by walking the beat more often himself with the officers.

Chin has brought a Segway electric scooter to the Tenderloin Station to walk the beat on a trial basis. He found the scooter would work very well for getting the attention from the communities and started the conversations with them. The Segway Scooters have been widely used by the police officers in the San Francisco International Airport. Chin hoped that the scooter could be approved by the department and extended to the district police stations in the city.

Chin is a first generation immigrant to the United States. He was not born in China, but Africa. His parents travelled to Africa from Taishan, Guangdong Province of China, over half of a century ago. When Chin was at a very young age, his parents moved to Portugal. Chin and his parents immigrated to San Francisco when he was 8 years old.

In addition to English, Chin speaks three more languages, Toishanese, Spanish and Portuguese. Chin grew up in Nob Hill, Chinatown, and North Beach when he first came to San Francisco.

Chin majored in Accounting in college at the San Francisco State University. He joined the San Francisco Police Department in 1994.

When asked about the crime, drug dealing and drug usage issues in the Tenderloin, Chin responded that there have been teams of uniform and undercover officers working on the issues. "We will have more plans coming soon on drugs and crime," said Chin.