Friday memorial planned for former San Francisco Police chief Fagan

Courtesy SF Police

A memorial service for former San Francisco Police Chief Alex Fagan Sr. has been scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco, the department announced.

Fagan, who worked as a police officer in the city for 31 years before retiring after stints at the city’s 37th police chief and director of the Office of Emergency services in 2004, died after suffering a heart attack in London where he was living, the department said.  

Fagan was 60 years old.

Fagan worked his way up the ranks after joining the department in 1973 as a police officer. He spent time working in several specialized units, including the homicide and vice details. He was promoted to Captain of the Northern District police station and was appointed to the Assistant Chief of Police position in August 2002 by Mayor Willie Brown.

A year later, Fagan was promoted to Chief of Police until newly-elected Mayor Gavin Newsom replaced him in January 2004.

Fellow officers credited Fagan with raising morale across all ranks in the department. But an infamous incident dubbed “fajitagate” by the Bay Area media raised questions about favoritism within the SFPD.

In 2002, a group of off-duty SFPD officers, including Fagan’s rookie police officer son, were involved in a North Beach skirmish with another man over a bag of fajitas. Then San Francisco District Attorney Terrance Hallinan indicted the entire SFPD command staff, alleging that police brass obstructed justice by failing to fully investigate the crime. The charges were later dropped.

A private memorial service for Fagan is scheduled for Thursday evening.

Friday’s memorial service will start at 10 a.m. at the cathedral located at 1111 Gough Street (at Geary Blvd.) in San Francisco.

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