Hong Kong Police Force

Hong Kong Police Force
Logo of the Hong Kong Police Force
Motto	We Serve with Pride and Care
Agency overview
Employees	33,092 (Est. 31 March 2011)
Annual budget	HK$13.1 billion (2011–2012)
Legal personality	Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Governing body	Security Bureau (Hong Kong)
General nature	Law enforcement Civilian police
Operational structure
Headquarters	Hong Kong Police Headquarters, 1 Arsenal Street, Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong
Sworn members	28,191
Minister responsible	Lai Tung-kwok, Secretary for Security
Agency executive	Stephen Lo Wai-chung, Commissioner of Police
Website
Hong Kong Police Force

External video

seven plainclothes policemen assaulting a handcuffed protester on 15 November

The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF), also known as the Hong Kong Police (HKP), is the largest disciplined service under the Security Bureau of Hong Kong. It is the world's second, and Asia's first, police agency to operate with a modern policing system. It was formed on 1 May 1844 by the British Hong Kong government with a strength of 32 officers. In 1969, Queen Elizabeth II granted the 'Royal' prefix and the HKPF became the "Royal Hong Kong Police Force", only to be removed in 1997 upon the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China.

The current Commissioner of Police is Stephen Lo Wai-chung. Including the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force and civil servants, the force consists of about 40,000 personnel; which gave Hong Kong the second highest police officer/citizen ratio in the world in 2014. The Marine Region with about 3,000 officers and a fleet of 143 vessels in 2009, was the largest such marine division of any civil police force.

The Hong Kong Police has been serving Hong Kong since shortly after the island was established as a colony in 1841. On 30 April 1841, 12 weeks after the British landed in Hong Kong, Captain Charles Elliot established a police force in the new colony. The first chief of police was Captain William Caine, who also served as the Chief Magistrate.

The 1950s saw the commencement of Hong Kong's 40-year rise to global prominence, during which time the Hong Kong Police tackled many issues that have challenged Hong Kong's stability. Between 1949 and 1989, Hong Kong experienced several huge waves of immigration from mainland China, most notably 1958–62. In the 1970s and 1980s, large numbers of Vietnamese boat people arrived in Hong Kong, posing challenges first for marine police, secondly for officers who manned the dozens of camps in the territory and lastly for those who had to repatriate them. The force was granted the Royal Charter in 1969 for its handling of the Hong Kong 1967 riots—renaming it: the Royal Hong Kong Police Force.