As 'bald eagle' Andy Tsang retires, will the next police chief be a dove?
Andy Tsang took a tough line with protesters - activists now hope that his successor, Stephen Lo, will mend strained relations with the public
During his term, demonstrations often turned into confrontations that ended in mass arrests and showers of pepper spray.
Some activists remain cautious about whether the force will turn more dovish with the arrival of the new police commissioner, Stephen Lo Wai-chung - the current deputy commissioner in charge of force management.
"It is sometimes more to do with the top leader in the government than to do with who is the police chief," said veteran protester Icarus Wong, of the Hong Kong Civil Rights Observer. "If the government wants to gag the opposition voices, it will press the police to take a tougher stance against protesters."
The change in police leadership comes at a time when Hong Kong's social and political situation is changing in the wake of the Occupy Central protests last year.
Nicknamed "bald eagle" - partly for his hawkish style and partly for his hair loss - Tsang became commissioner in January 2011. Tsang, who turns 57 next Tuesday, joined the force as an inspector in January 1978. From 1993 to 1995, he was seconded to the Metropolitan Police in London with the rank of detective superintendent.