Policing

This chapter aims to introduce the key features and development of the policing system in Hong Kong. London set up the Hong Kong Police Force in 1844 to maintain the social order and safeguard the British interest in the territories. The Hong Kong Police was established under the colonial policing model of Royal Irish Constabulary, which featured its highly centralized command, non-local leadership, and segregation with the indigenous population. The Hong Kong Police took up most of the internal security duties in its early years of establishment, ranging from policing to immigration control, fire services, and prison management. Apparently, the Hong Kong Police is a civil force, but it is equipped with the paramilitary capacity to suppress social disturbances after quick mobilization, under the colonial Governor’s command. After the territory-wide disturbances that lasted for six months in 1967, the Hong Kong Police was bestowed with the title ‘Royal’ by Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom. It was thus renamed the ‘Royal Hong Kong Police’ (RHIP) until the handover in 1997. Copyright © 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.