From 1968 to 1971, Fagan attended Contra Costa College in San Pablo, and graduated from UC Berkeley in 1973 with a bachelor's degree in criminology.
[1] Fagan worked in the Narcotics unit for 13 years and later in the Homicide detail, was assigned to an organized-crime task-force, ran the Northern Station, and as Captain was the department's chief financial officer.
In January 2004, newly elected Mayor Gavin Newsom removed Fagan as chief and put him in charge of the city's emergency services office.
[10] Fagan was investigated by Walnut Creek, California police in connection with the 1988 murder of SFPD officer Lester Garnier.
Among the issues raised were his purchases of an expensive home and automobiles well in excess of those his SFPD pay would warrant, membership in the exclusive Olympic Club, and his relationship with a female IRS agent.