Fred Lau always wanted to be a San Francisco cop, so much so that he literally hung upside down in hopes of getting the job. In 1970, there was a height requirement to join the police force and the 5-foot-7 Lau was an inch short. He tried hanging upside down from a bar to stretch his body. It didn't work. What did work was pressure from civil rights activists. The city dropped the height requirement in 1971 …showed first 75 words of 719 total…

…showed last 75 words of 719 total…in the country. Chief of Police Lau broke through another glass ceiling. Abolishing the San Francisco department's height restriction gave Lau a chance to fulfill a dream and be a pioneer. He is the only Chinese American to lead a big city police department. ``The fact that it's a very strong position, it's a very visible position and a very non-Asian position is very important,'' Lau said. ``It's very contrary to the stereotype.''