Mayor Daniel Lurie appointed lawyer Larry Low to the police commission on Wednesday, another Asian representative on the seven-member body to fill the vacancy left by outgoing commissioner Larry Yee.
“I agree with the mayor’s top priority of public safety,” said 72-year-old Low in an interview today. “Certainly, as a citizen who has watched the city as it flows, safety is critical. So I’ll definitely be looking to try to make sure that everybody feels that San Francisco is a safe place to thrive.”
Low, who carries over four decades of experience in law and nonprofit work, comes from a prominent family of lawyers beloved by Chinatown.
Low’s younger brother, 64-year-old Allan Low, has been recognized as a pro bono hero for his work in Chinatown specializing in affordable housing and immigrant rights. Their father, Harry Low, was a former judge and state insurance commissioner.
As an early endorser of Lurie’s mayoral campaign, especially at a time when Lurie had little support from Asian community leaders, Allan Low now enjoys more influence with the Lurie administration — but to a good end, according to community members.
“I know that Allan is one of the folks that Mayor Lurie trusts,” said Malcolm Yeung, the executive director of the Chinatown Community Development Center, which has worked with Allan Low for decades. As a leader, “you always want people like that around you, who aren’t yes men, but tell you the truth.”
Allan Low was appointed to the fire commission by Lurie in February 2025, right after Lurie came into office.
The two brothers, who are now on the police and fire commissions, respectively, jokingly call themselves the ”safety brothers,” according to Larry Low. It’s a family tradition: Their father Harry was appointed president of the police commission by Mayor Frank Jordan in 1992.
Larry Low said he is close to his brother Allan, but Allan had nothing to do with the appointment. “Allan was a terrific figure. But when I told him I was under consideration, he was surprised,” said Larry Low.
Larry Low received a note from the mayor’s office asking him whether he would consider serving on a city commission.
“I’m a product of San Francisco and I’m a lifelong member of the community, and of course I want to serve,” he said.
A corporate lawyer for many years, Low was the chief legal officer at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, a global law firm with more than 1,000 attorneys and 26 offices.
In 2021, he became the chief operating officer of the nonprofit Ascend, the largest Asian professional organization in North America.
After Ascend, Low taught an “Asian Americans and the law” class as an adjunct professor at Stanford Law School, where he provided “a historical examination” of cases involving “Asians who fought for their civil rights,” involving the Chinese Exclusion Act, birthright citizenship, property discrimination, Japanese internment and prosecutions of Chinese scientists, said Low.
He will bring that course to the Santa Clara Law School later this year.
“I’ve known him my entire life,” Allan Low joked today (the two brothers also have a sister in between named Kathy).
The younger brother describes the newly appointed police commissioner as someone who “has a very successful legal career” and “a sense of fairness and justice that people can talk about,” and who can bring his technical skills in governance to the police commission.
A promoter of Lurie’s public-safety agenda, Larry Low is also supportive of restorative justice initiatives, said Allan Low. “One is not exclusive to the other. You can do both.”
“I view the commission’s role as requiring accountability, and also support for the police department, which need not be opposites but rather prerequisites to building trust for both the police and the community,” said Larry Low.
Compared to his father and brother, Larry Low has been less active in Chinatown. But being Asian “is part of my makeup,” he said. “I believe in supporting all Asian causes but of course, as the commissioner, I’m going to have to watch and be responsible to the entire city.”
He ain’t no Max Carter Oberstone. So much for transparency, accountability, and credibility. Another calcified rubber stamp.
ah! In and around Chinatown there were sort of cartoonish pictures of some Asian dude with glasses randomly taped to traffic poles. Mr. Low is the face of the guy in the pictures. I was wondering what sort of bizarre propaganda piece it was and this article is a clue.
A review and explication of the posters and advertisements slathered all over chinatown (and other neighborhoods) might be an interesting regular column for someone at ML.
So political payback in the open, perfect job Daniel. Nobody seems to care!
Larry Low served several terms on the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF) board at a very critical, stressful time when the organization had to raise funds to survive, as it sought to expand programming about the impact of discriminatory, anti-Asian immigration laws. Because AIISF was able to weather this financial crisis, today it is a member of the Chinatown Media & Arts Collaborative that recently purchased the iconic Empress of China building to build and maintain cultural programming by and for community members. Larry’s roots in the community and awareness about social justice challenges should help him maintain an independent, reasoned voice on the SF police commission. It would be out-of-character if he becomes a political hack.