Stephen Lo takes over Hong Kong Police Force as commissioner as Andy Tsang retires
Outgoing police commissioner Andy Tsang Wai-hung yesterday admitted his successor might face a re-emergence of serious crime in Hong Kong after the kidnapping of Bossini heiress Queenie Law last week and a series of high-profile burglaries.
Known as a hardliner, Tsang, handing over the reins to Stephen Lo Wai-chung at a press briefing yesterday, maintained the force's relations with the public had not worsened during his term, while his successor said he would seek to better explain the force's position to the public, which may have "misunderstood" police work in the past.
Tsang also reiterated that what he described as an increased "sense of lawlessness" after last year's Occupy protests would be another challenge ahead for Lo.
"In the past few years, we've seen increasingly radicalised protests and I am sure Mr Lo is well-prepared for this," Tsang said.
The force is seeking to buy three water cannon vehicles for HK$27 million, as well as adding 500 new officers - most of whom would go toward beefing up the Police Tactical Unit's public order capabilities.
"On the other hand, we've seen serious crime again descending on Hong Kong," Tsang said. "This is another challenge that the new commissioner will have to deal with."
Asked if he felt the police's relationship with the public had reached its worst level in decades during his term - as previous public surveys suggested - Tsang said only those who seek to "openly defy the law" would arrive at such a conclusion.
"If we ask the [Queenie Law] kidnappers how they see police-public relations after we arrest them, they would certainly say it's bad and such an answer is to be expected," Tsang said.
Speaking to reporters after Tsang, the new police chief said he would seek to "rectify the misunderstanding" that the force had been biased during Occupy and hoped that the public would come to see the police as their "family members".
"I believe I will not be very different from Mr Tsang because the police force's mission has always been the same," Lo said.
