Fanny Lau (Photos by Marko Shark)
By Connie Adair
A homicide in Scarborough. Sgt. Fanny Lau is one of several officers asked to canvas nearby houses to look for witnesses to a murder that took place in a driveway in a residential neighbourhood. Lau speaks to neighbours and finds a witness who says she saw the whole incident. Lau calls for a scout car to transport the witness to the station, where she willingly gives her statement. An arrest is made. Weeks later, Lau receives a note from the sergeant for a job well done. It was a rewarding experience, Lau says, but is just one of many she has experienced as a volunteer with the Toronto Police Service Auxiliary Program.
Lau, a full-time real estate broker, has been a volunteer police officer since 2001, coincidentally the same year she joined Prudential Sadie Moranis Realty in Toronto. It was a year of big changes in her life, she says.
Hong Kong-born Lau got her real estate license in the 1990s and started working part-time to see if she liked real estate enough to make it a career. But things didn’t go well. She and her ex-husband had their own business, where she worked full-time. That meant she couldn’t meet her real estate commitments because she was unable to meet her clients during the day.
Lau took a break from real estate and worked at a trust company for nine years. When it merged with a bank, she took the buy-out, and set out to give her real estate career another shot, this time full-time.
Breaking into real estate wasn’t easy, she says. She started by knocking on doors. It took three years to become established and to build a network. She worked with Steve Wong Real Estate, building her network in Scarborough. “I gave my clients more than 100 per cent service. Even years later, I’m getting call backs. Now 80 per cent of my business is referrals,” she says.
When Wong closed his brokerage in 2001, Lau moved to Prudential Sadie Moranis. It was a change from the smaller office she was used to. Prudential has more than 100 agents and a good support team, a deals’ secretary and a manager, she says. The educational training provided by the firm has also served her well. Lau has thrived at the company, receiving Granite Awards in 2007, 2008 and 2009. The award recognizes agents who earn $75,000 or more per year.
As she grew her real estate business, she simultaneously established her auxiliary work. Sgt. Lau oversees 20 auxiliary officers at 42 Division, geographically the largest of Toronto’s 17 police divisions, serving a population of more than 261,000.
“Ever since I was a little girl, I liked to help people,” she says. She first thought about volunteering at a hospital, but said it would have been too depressing. A few police officer friends told her about the auxiliary program and encouraged her to join.
Being a real estate agent and an auxiliary officer are the perfect combination for a woman who says she doesn’t like to sit still. She enjoys the flexibility and challenge both jobs allow, as well as serving a multi-cultural community in real estate and policing.
Lau also serves as co-chair of the Chinese Community Liaison Community. The committee meets once a month, serving as a link between the local Chinese community and 42 Division.
Auxiliary officers are required to volunteer a minimum of 150 hours per year. Last year, Lau clocked 600 hours. Tasks include crowd control, maintaining police perimeters, canvassing and conducting searches for missing persons. Auxiliary members also man crime prevention booths, attend community functions and field inquiries from the public. “Our job is to help the regular police,” she says.
Auxiliary officers are trained in self defence, and have first aid and CPR certificates. They do not carry guns, only handcuffs and batons. They are distinguished from salaried officers by their blue shirts, hats that sport a red and black checked hat band, and by patches that identify them as auxiliary members.
There have been times, when standing in frigid temperatures, or after having fallen and in the emergency ward with a bloodied nose, that Lau has wondered if volunteering is worth it, but it all balances out in the end, she says. The elderly person is found safe, the criminal is caught. The ups and downs are not unlike real estate, she says. Last week, a client lost out on a multiple offer. However you have to retain a positive attitude, she says, adding this week she’ll sell something to make up for it.
Lau works to keep her job and volunteer work separate, never handing out business cards when on police duty, and not flaunting her position of authority when acting as a real estate agent.
However people do have a way of finding out about her alter ego – a 17-year-old in her real estate office wants to become a police officer and has talked to Lau about the job, and the occasional police officer becomes a client.
When in uniform, she says she is always treated with the utmost respect, by the public and other officers. In fact, if a client finds out she is an auxiliary officer, they are impressed. “They figure I must be a good person if the police service hired me,” she jokes.
And lots of people want her to fix their parking tickets, but that’s not possible for anyone to do, she says.
