Chinatown and Sunset communities would like to have Chinese American Captains in their police stations

(SAN FRANCISCO) Two police stations which cover two largest Chinese and Asian neighborhoods in San Francisco, Central Police Station and Taraval Police Station, are led by Acting Captains since July 1 this year. The Chinese community urges Police Chief William Scott to select Chinese and Asian American Captains to head both stations to fight against the rising anti-Asian hate and violence.

David Lazar, Assistant Chief in charge of field operation at the San Francisco Police Department, confirmed to the Wind Newspaper that Captain Robert Yick has been designated as the Taraval Police Station commanding officer starting this Saturday on October 15.

Lazar also stated that Acting Captain Douglas Farmer of Central Station would continue his interim position as the Station Captain for more time, at least until 2023.

"As you know, I love the Chinese community and was very successful as a Captain. My hope is the same for Acting Captain Farmer and for the community to embrace him. He is doing very well with the community," said Lazar who had served as the Central Police Station Captain for over four years.

Sam Yuen, longtime Chinese American police officer at Central Station, highly respects Farmer. "He is very qualified as the Central Station Captain. I have worked with him at Central Station for years. He cares much about public safety and the Chinese community. He is a competent police leader and very committed to serving the Chinese community and Chinatown," said Yuen.

Julian Ng, former Chinese American Central Station Captain, and Eric Vintero, former Filipino American Taraval Police Station Captain, were both promoted to the rank of Commander on July 1 this year. Since then, both stations are headed by Acting Captains who are Lieutenants.

Sunset Safety Network sent a letter to Police Chief Scott recently and requested selecting a new Captain for the Taraval Station who could meet the needs of the large Asian community in the Sunset District.

"Our Network urges selection of a captain that is culturally and linguistically competent to address the API safety concern." Leon Chow, Coordinator of Sunset Safety Network, stated in the letter. "53% of the Sunset community identified as Asian and 42% of the community are foreign born."

"Through our community engagement, we have found that limited English speaking community members are often under reported crimes, with languages being a key barrier," Chow added.

A number of Chinatown community leaders are also hoping to see a Chinese American Captain to lead the Central Station, including Lily Lo, Co-Founder of BeChinatown.

"Chinatown is the capital of the Chinese community in the Bay Area. A very diverse Chinese community organizations and offices are located in Chinatown. Many of the residents and merchants in Chinatown are seniors and new immigrants. Our community needs the leaders at the Central Police station to understand more of our culture and languages to address the crime issue that we face, including the anti-Asian hate and violence," said Lo.

Supervisor Gordon Mar welcomed the new appointment of Captain Robert Yick to the Taraval Station. "I support hiring more police officers, including the bilingual officers who can better serve the large immigrant communities in San Francisco," said Mar.

"Within the new fiscal year’s city budget, there will be eight classes at the Police Academy in the next two years. I will work with the police department to hire more qualified and bilingual officers," Mar stated.

This is the third time for Yick to serve as a commanding officer of a police station in the city and second time to lead Taraval Station.

Yick is a fifth generation San Francisco-born Chinese American. When Yick was promoted to be a Captain in 2017, he was immediately assigned to head the Taraval Station. One year later, he was transferred to serve as a Captain at the Central Station for about two years. He was then transferred to the police headquarter in 2020 as a Captain at the Administrative Bureau up to the present.

"I look forward to more engagement with all the communities in the Sunset and Oceanview neighborhoods which are both under the jurisdiction of Taraval Station," said Yick, who will begin his new role as the Taraval Station Captain next week.