Stephen Lo (police commissioner)

Stephen Lo
Born	1962 (age 53–54)
Awards	Police Meritorious Service Medal (2009) Police Distinguished Service Medal (2014)
Police career
Department	Hong Kong Police
Country	Hong Kong
Years of service	1984–present
Rank	Commissioner

Stephen Lo Wai-chung, PDSM, PMSM, (Chinese: 盧偉聰; born 1962) is the current Commissioner of Police of the Hong Kong Police.

Biography

Lo was born in 1962. He attended the University of Hong Kong and studied Social Sciences. After he graduated, Lo joined the Hong Kong Police in 1984 as an inspector. He worked at the Regional Crime Unit and Organised Crime and Triad Bureau. He is specialised in "criminal investigation, international liaison, service quality management, security and operational duties," according to the government official website. He also helped the police to develop the first-generation Major Incident and Disaster Support System.^[1]

In 1999, he was seconded to the Interpol General Secretariat in Lyons, France, initially as Liaison Officer, and later, in 2001, promoted to Assistant Director of its Asia and South Pacific Branch. ^[2] Lo returned to Hong Kong in 2002 to take the position of senior superintendent in the Service Quality Wing and the Complaints Against Police Office. In 2005, he was promoted to chief superintendent in the Security Wing and Deputy Regional Commander in Kowloon West. In 2009, he was promoted to Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Security Wing. He held the position for two years until he was appointed Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police of the Crime and Security Wing in 2011. On 13 August 2013, he was promoted to Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations in 2013 and then was transferred to Deputy Commissioner of Police, Management one year after.^[1][3]

Lo has also completed a few overseas training programmes, including the command course for police chiefs from the Chinese People's Public Security University in 2004, a management course for senior government officials from Harvard University in 2007, and a leadership development programme from the National Executive Institute of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States in 2010. He also obtained a master's degree in Risk, Crisis & Disaster Management.^[1]

He was awarded the Police Meritorious Service Medal in 2009 and the Police Distinguished Service Medal in 2014.^[1]

On 4 May 2015, the State Council of the People's Republic of China appointed Lo Commissioner of Police, succeeding Andy Tsang Wai-hung.^[4] He was criticised as “soft” and “feeble” by frontline officers after he announced an investigation into the firing of two warning shots by a police officer during the 2016 Mong Kok civil unrest.^[5]

References