George Wittman
Chief of the San Francisco police department
About George Wittman
Lived 1857 – 1950 (aged 92–93). George Wittman was an American.
George W. Wittman (1857–1950) was a San Francisco Police officer and chief of police.
Wittman is the only San Francisco police chief ever fired outright. During the period before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, business interests desired the removal of the Chinese from San Francisco's Chinatown because the property was valuable as the city was still centered on Portsmouth Square. The plan was to expropriate the land and move the Chinese to Hunters Point. At a rehearing on Wittman's firing in 1975, both historian Kevin Starr and city historian Gladys Hansen stated that Wittman was railroaded.
Hansen stated that the city wanted to move the Chinese and, "to make people believe the removal was for the betterment of the city and not a lucrative business deal, someone in high office had to be blamed for allowing vice to exist in Chinatown". Wittman took the fall (SF Examiner July 10, 1975).
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Important facts
People in George Wittman's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped George Wittman's
Frequently asked questions
Who was George Wittman?
Chief of the San Francisco police department
When was George Wittman born?
George Wittman was born in 1857.
When did George Wittman die?
George Wittman died in 1950.
What nationality was George Wittman?
George Wittman was American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). George Wittman. https://biography.guide/george-wittman/
MLA: "George Wittman." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/george-wittman/.
Chicago: "George Wittman." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/george-wittman/.
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