Shoji Horikoshi – 1927 -- 2013
On July 15, 2013, retired SFPD Criminologist Shoji Horikoshi lost a valiant fight with cancer and died at a residential care facility in San Francisco. He was 86.
Mr. Horikoshi was a 38-year veteran of the San Francisco Police Department, and retired as head Criminologist in 1995. The San Francisco Police Crime Lab, located at the former Hunters Point Shipyard, was named in his honor.
San Franciscan Shoji Horikoshi graduated from UC Berkeley in 1953 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminalistics. The field of law enforcement was just learning the value of modern forensics, and the SFPD was not considered on the cutting edge of that science, having only a rudimentary fingerprint lab and little else. Young, educated Horikoshi began his forensic career with the SFPD as a fledgling Fingerprint Technician. At the time of his retirement, the department’s lab was considered state-of-the art, replete with AFIS Fingerprint computer, DNA testing capability, electron microscopes, Photography, specialized field equipment, and training for all personnel in these very technical and scientific aspects of forensic investigations.
At the dedication ceremony for the new lab at Hunters Point, Criminalist Horikoshi was presented with a certificate written by hand in masterful calligraphy by Crime Lab Inspector Lloyd Cunningham. It read:
The Shoji Horikoshi Crime Lab
Board of Supervisors Resolution 201- 99
The designation of the new
San Francisco Police Crime Lab
facility at 606 Hunter’s Point shall be
the Shoji Horikoshi Crime Lab
in recognition of the extraordinary contributions
made by Criminalist Shoji Horikoshi to
the Criminal Justice System and the people
of San Francisco
The men and women of the San Francisco Police Officers Association extend condolences to the family and many friends of Criminalist Horikoshi.
