A San Francisco police captain last week had her passport seized in Singapore after trying to board a plane with live ammunition, The Standard has learned.
Liza Johansen was detained at Changi Airport when security personnel found that she was carrying a bullet. Local authorities took her passport for several days before letting her go with a warning, according to sources.
Johansen, who served as Mission Station captain for less than a year before being replaced in August for unknown reasons, is on medical leave from the San Francisco Police Department, according to records.
‘One round, I gotta think, is probably accidental.’
John Alden
Johansen did not respond to requests for comment. It is not known why she was in Singapore. The SFPD, which did not respond to a request for comment, requires officers (opens in new tab) to maintain and keep their equipment safe as a matter of policy.
John Alden, a former DA investigator and police oversight official in Sonoma County, said the bullet was likely an oversight on Johansen’s part.
“You can understand when a small item like that gets misplaced,” Alden said. “It’s another thing when someone has like 50 rounds or a box of ammunition. One round, I gotta think, is probably accidental.”
It’s not the first time a Bay Area law enforcement officer has misplaced, lost, or had a firearm or ammunition stolen. The SIG Sauer P239 that killed Kate Steinle (opens in new tab) in 2015 was stolen from the vehicle of a Bureau of Land Management ranger. In 2017, a Smith &Wesson revolver was stolen from the car of an SFPD (opens in new tab) officer and used in a gang-related homicide. That same year, a whistleblower alleged that he was fired after revealing that George Gascón, the DA at the time, had brought a gun on a plane (opens in new tab), in violation of federal law.
Singapore Police Force officials would not comment, saying that investigations are confidential.
Singapore is known for its strict laws (opens in new tab) and harsh punishment. In one notable 1993 case, a U.S. citizen was sentenced to a fine, jail time, and several strokes of a cane for committing vandalism. That case set off a diplomatic spat between the countries.
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“The manufacture, use, sale, storage, transport, importation, exportation and possession of firearms are strictly prohibited without a valid licence or approval,” the Singapore Police Force website (opens in new tab) says. Possessing a bullet or ammunition without a license is punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment and a fine.
Before heading up Mission Station, Johansen worked at San Francisco International Airport, as a street cop, and on the Special Victims Unit.