California IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Hongisto to Head Security Firm

Former San Francisco Police Chief Richard Hongisto has been named president and chief executive officer of Phoenix Operations, a private security and investigative firm. Hongisto, 55, joined the San Francisco-based firm as vice president for planning and development in June, a month after his dismissal as police chief. He was fired over the removal of gay newspapers from their news racks. The papers had lampooned his actions to combat riots sparked by the verdicts in the Rodney G. King beating trial. Hongisto, who was city assessor and a member of the Board of Supervisors before becoming police chief, lost a bid earlier this month to win reelection to the board.