Chief suspect
Queer cops criticize Sanders for anticipated S.F. Police Department shakeup

By A.C. Thompson

Two weeks on the job, and new San Francisco police chief Earl Sanders is already getting heat.

When speculation mounted last week that Sanders was planning to demote the force's two top-ranking women – Deputy Chiefs Heather Fong and Mindy Pengel – the chief received a series of calls urging him to reconsider, according to department insiders.

Well-placed sources say Sanders planned to shift Pengel from her job atop the Investigations Bureau to a less-glamorous position. He also apparently wanted to move Fong from her role running Field Operations to a low-profile job in administration. Apparently the office-swapping would've resulted in reduced pay for the two women, each of whom now makes more than $150,000 annually. Pengel, one of the first uncloseted lesbian cops in the city, is something of an icon in the gay community, while Fong is the highest-ranking Asian American woman on the force.

That Sanders might seek to reassign Pengel isn't a huge surprise. The 64-year-old former homicide cop has been talking about restructuring the investigations unit for months now, and Pengel's position as unit boss has been looking shaky since the San Francisco Chronicle ran a three-part exposé in May detailing the SFPD's low crime-solving stats.

Still, the talk of Pengel's ouster wasn't well received by the city's gay and lesbian cops, some of whom fear that Sanders, the department's first black chief, isn't committed to maintaining the force's diversity in terms of gender and sexual orientation. "We don't want the highest-ranking deputy chief – who happens to be an out lesbian – to be demoted," said one of Pengel's supporters, sergeant inspector Pat Correa. "The community and the gay and lesbian cops are united behind her."

"The community went to bat for two incredible women," commented another cop and queer community leader, who asked to remain anonymous. "I know the chief's office was deluged [with phone calls and e-mails]."

SFPD spokesperson Dewayne Tully told us no personnel changes had been finalized – and downplayed the diversity issue. "As a man of color himself, the chief has helped diversify the department, and he has a great interest in maintaining the diversity of the department," Tully said.

As we go to press, it's unclear how this is going to play out, but it looks like the new chief, appointed July 11 after former chief Fred Lau left to head security at Oakland International Airport, is rethinking his plan. Insiders say he may end up shuffling Fong and Pengel to different bureaus while retaining them as deputy chiefs.

E-mail A.C. Thompson at ac_thompson@sfbg.com.