Chang Apana - Police Career

Police Career

In 1898, Chang joined the Honolulu Police Department. In a force of more than two hundred men, the officers mainly Hawaiian and the chiefs mostly white, Chang was the only Chinese member of the force and was assigned to patrol such Chinatown areas called "Blood Town" and "Hell's Half Acre". In his early years as a detective, beginning in 1916, Chang worked on opium-smuggling and illegal gambling cases primarily.

Due in part to his fluency in several languages, his wide network of informants and because of his shrewd and meticulous detective style, Chang was successful in solving many cases. Many stories about Chang's career have arisen. Chang helped round up people infected with leprosy and send them to a leper colony on the island of Molokai. While performing this duty, Chang was attacked by a Japanese leper with a sickle, leaving him with a distinctive scar over his right eye. Another time Chang was thrown out a second story window by drug addicts only to land on his feet. There is an account that he raised the alarm on a shipment of contraband after being run over by a horse and buggy. One night in Honolulu, with no backup and armed only with his bullwhip, Apana arrested 40 gamblers, whom he then lined up and marched back to the police station.