When he first joined the police department in 1969, not many Chicago cops looked like Malcolm Woo.
He was one of the first Chinese Americans on the force.
He started as a beat cop in mostly Black neighborhoods on the South Side but was later tapped for undercover work because he had a unique ability to blend in.
"There's pictures back when he was doing undercover work, and he had long hair, a mustache, a beard, so you don't know if he was Chinese, Mexican, Middle Eastern," said his wife Tina Woo, a retired Chicago Public Schools teacher. "He looked like he could have been anything, and our grandkids have seen these pictures and they're like, 'Is that our grandfather?'"
He never got hurt while impersonating criminals in drug and gambling stings, a fact Mr. Woo marveled at.
"Looking back, he'd laugh because it was so dangerous," said his daughter, Melissa Woo.
Mr. Woo died July 8 from heart complications. He was 79.
Mr. Woo spent the last decade of his career on Mayor Richard M. Daley's security detail before he retired from the police department in 1998, the first Chinese American CPD officer to retire from the department with full benefits.
As a co-founder of the Asian American Law Enforcement Association, Mr. Woo made it his mission to help others have successful careers in the field.
The nonprofit group was formed when eight Chicago cops with Chinese heritage came together in 1983 to connect with the Asian community, keep it safe and open doors for Asians who wanted to work in law enforcement, said fellow founding member Corey Chan. The group now has more than 600 members with roots in countries across Asia. Most are Chicago police officers, but its ranks also include federal, state, local and county law enforcement officers from the Chicago area.
"He was very aware of what it felt like to be the only Chinese guy on the force, and he would talk about it. And I think he recognized it was a challenge for him as a young cadet and it inspired him to make space for other police officers who identified as Asian," his daughter said.
"He always came out to support us any way he could, all the way to the end," said Heny Lai, the organization's current president and a detective with the Chicago Police Department.
"He was a mentor and a friend and he coached me on doing a lot of things and helped me overcome hardships." "Sometimes our members face discrimination and he'd share his experiences and taught us how to fight it. He encouraged us to stick with each other and not be intimidated, and not give up. He'd say: 'We're a big family, look out for each other.'"
Mr. Woo attended annual fundraisers and pitched in when the group provided meals for the elderly and low-income families during the pandemic, Lai said.
"He went through adversity, harassment, and he just endured, and came out being one of the most admired policemen in the city of Chicago," said his brother, Roland Woo, who's also a retired Chicago police officer.
As part of the mayoral security detail, Mr. Woo's duties ranged from driving a black limousine, walking in close proximity of the mayor at public events, doing advance work and guarding the mayor and his family at their home in Bridgeport or their summer place in Grand Beach, Mich.
"He was the kind of guy you'd meet and want to be his friend right away. And he was very proud of being the city's first Chinese officer and would remind us of that," said John O'Dea, a friend and retired officer who also worked on Daley's security detail.
Like a lot of cops, he missed plenty of holidays because he was working.
"But we understood that's part of the job," his wife said.
He regularly picked up side gigs working security at convention center hotels or at Soldier Field.
Listening to music from the Golden Oldies era, rooting for the Bears and the White Sox, catching up with friends and smoking a cigar were a few things he enjoyed.
But perhaps his favorite thing was being a car guy.
Mr. Woo was a muscle car enthusiast and one of the first members of the Chicago Gearheads, a car club that was started by two Chicago police officers in 1993.
"Mal had a 1968 Camaro RS convertible, black with a white top, that was his baby," said club secretary Bill Lynch.
"He drove it to all our meetings. It was a beautiful car. And he liked working the grill at our barbecues. He was a guy who liked to help out, just a friendly guy, a guy you could talk to," Lynch said.
"He is so Chicago, just such a quintessential Chicago guy, right down to the food at his funeral: Italian beef and sausage," said his daughter.
"He grew up very, very poor and didn't expect to be anything, and then to to be the first Chinese American body guard of a Chicago mayor, to be a civil servant and give back to his community, he was very proud of that."
Mr. Woo was born Dec. 7, 1944, to Raymond and Anita Woo. Both were born in China and came the United States in the 1920s. Raymond was a waiter at restaurant in Chinatown. His mother was a homemaker until her husband died and she found work as a teller and interpreter at the first bank to open a branch in Chinatown.
Mr. Woo, who was one of four siblings, attended Haines Elementary, Tilden High School and later served in the Army.
He heard Cantonese in his house growing up and attended language classes as a young student. As an adult, he could understand most of the language and speak some of it.
"We tried to carry on traditions, but like anything else, you get more Americanized," his brother said.
Mr. Woo was also a past board member of the Chinese American Museum of Chicago and was "instrumental" in helping the museum rebuild after a fire in 2008 and outfitting the building with modern security cameras, museum co-founder Kim Tee said.
Mr. Woo met his wife in Chinatown, where he spent a large part of his life before moving north and raising his family in Sauganash and Edgebrook.
In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Woo is survived by his son, Bradley Woo, and two grandchildren.
Services have been held.
