Gamal Hasan

Gamal A. Hasan (born June 23, 1961 in Bakersfield, CA) is corporate security professional, a political activist, a business entrepreneur, and an American filmmaker.

He is most noted for creating the term “Code Pink” to describe the procedure used by hospital staff in responding to an Infant Abduction. He is also noted as being the youngest person in California’s history to lead a statewide political campaign as he lead an effort to establish a state holiday honoring the late Dr. Martin Luther King.

In 1989, in response to a nationwide increase in the number of incidents of infant abductions from hospitals, Hasan, as Director of Hospital Security for Kaiser Permanente hospital in San Francisco, CA, was called upon to develop a policy and procedure for his hospital that addressed this concern. He developed a protocol that integrated elements electronic and physical security, with identification standards, access control practices, a staff response matrix and a universal alerts indicator. The policy also called for general staff education and awareness which included educating nursing and security personnel on information provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding the typical profile of a person most likely to abduct an infant in a hospital setting. The vast majority of hospitals in the United States have a color-coded system of announcements to alert hospital staff to specific emergencies, such as, “Code Red” to indicate a fire related emergency and “Code Blue” to indicate a cardio-vascular emergency. In keeping with this standard, Hasan dubbed his policy “Code Pink” to relate to any emergency relating to a missing or abducted infant. The Administration of the hospital accepted the policy and incorporated the new idiom into its lexicon. The policy also received approval from the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Hospital Organizations (JCAHO) and soon became the standard throughout the Kaiser Hospital system nationally. As a member of the International Association of Hospital Security and Safety (IAHSS) and a member of the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS), Hasan shared the policy with his peers nationally, and the terminology caught on. An interview with Hasan was published the October 1990 issue of "Security Management" magazine. Today, the term “Code Pink” is widely used in many hospitals and medical facilities across the United States.

In 1980 at the age of 19, Hasan, along with 2 of his colleagues, began collecting signatures of fellow Californians who supported the notion of having a state holiday in commemoration of the late Dr. Martin Luther King. Inspired by his love for the memory of the slain civil-rights leader, and the movement for a national holiday lead by entertainer/activist Stevie Wonder, Hasan wanted to do something to be apart of this effort. He, and his 2 friends, collected thousands of signatures and began mailing these signatures to the California State Assembly and the State Senate. His group’s efforts caught the attention of State Assemblymen, Elihu Harris of Oakland, CA and Speaker of the Assembly, Willie Brown of San Francisco. Both offices established contact with Hasan and helped to organize his group’s efforts. The group was reorganized into a political action organization and took on the name “Californians for a King Holiday”. Hasan was named as the organization’s president and offices were established in Oakland, CA. The organization grew to over 150 volunteers and began to receive enthusiastic support and contributions from the community. It established liaison with the national Dr. King holiday campaign, and coordinated its efforts with churches, student organizations and other activist. The organization refined its political activity. It initiated a letter writing campaign encouraging the constituents in those districts represented by State Lawmakers that were opposed to the King Holiday bill to sign letters addressed to their representative showing their support for the bill. Hasan appeared on several local radio and television programs promoting this effort and was invited to speak on the floor of the State Senate by Senate President pro Tempore, David Roberti. In an article in the April 13, 1981 issue of the Oakland Post newspaper’s State Government section, Hasan was duded “the youngest major political activist in California’s history”. On the day the bill was signed into law, Hasan attended the ceremony at the State Capital at the invitation of California Governor, Jerry Brown.