Stephen Lo Wai-chung (; born 19 November 1961) is a Hong Kong retired law enforcement administrator. Lo joined the

Hong Kong Police Force The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest Hong Kong Disciplined Services, disciplined service under the Security Bureau (Hong Kong), Security Bureau of Hong Kong. Pursuant to the one c ...

in 1984 after his graduation from the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

with a

bachelor of social science The Bachelor of Social Science (BSocSc or BSocSci) is an undergraduate degree. It typically requires three to four years of study in the social sciences at an institution of higher education, primarily found in the Commonwealth of Nations. It c ...

in management. He served as the

Commissioner of Police A police commissioner is the head of a police department, responsible for overseeing its operations and ensuring the effective enforcement of laws and maintenance of public order. They develop and implement policies, manage budgets, and coordinate ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

from 2015 to 2019, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Management) from 2013 to 2015, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) in 2013 and Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police from 2011 to 2013.

Biography

Lo attended the University of Hong Kong and received a Bachelor of Social Science with a major in management studies. After his graduation, Lo joined the Royal Hong Kong Police Force on 16 July 1984 as an inspector and was promoted to Senior Inspector on 1 November 1987. 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. In 1999, he was seconded to the

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

General Secretariat in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, France, initially as Liaison Officer. In 2001, he was promoted to assistant director of its Asia and South Pacific Branch. Lo returned to Hong Kong in 2003 to take the position of senior superintendent in the Service Quality Wing and the Complaints Against Police Office and was then promoted to

chief superintendent Chief superintendent is a senior rank in police forces, especially in those organised on the United Kingdom, British model. Rank insignia of chief superintendent File:Sa-police-chief-superintendent.png, South Australia Police File:RCMP Chief S ...

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 became Deputy Commissioner of Police (Management) in September 2013. 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 Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 2007, and a leadership development programme from the National Executive Institute of the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

in the United States in 2010. He also obtained a master's degree in Risk, Crisis & Disaster Management. He was awarded the Police Meritorious Service Medal in 2009 and the Police Distinguished Service Medal in 2014. On 4 May 2015, the State Council of the People's Republic of China appointed Lo

, succeeding Andy Tsang Wai-hung. 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 Civil unrest occurred in Mong Kok, Hong Kong from the night of 8 February 2016 until the following morning. This incident occurred following the government's crackdown on unlicensed street hawkers during the Chinese New Year holidays. Eventua ...

. On 15 February 2017, Lo stated that he was "saddened" by the guilty verdict of seven police officers who were found guilty of assaulting the pro-democracy activist

Ken Tsang Ken Tsang Kin-chiu ( zh, link=no, t=曾健超; born 12 July 1975) is a Hong Kong activist and social worker. He is most known for his beating incident during the 2014 Hong Kong protests. Background Tsang studied Journalism at the Shue Yan Co ...

during the Occupy Central protests. In November 2019, Lo retired as Commissioner of Police amidst criticisms of the police's handling of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests. In August 2020, Lo and ten other officials were sanctioned by the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

under

Executive Order 13936 Executive Order 13936, entitled "The President’s Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization", is an executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump on July 14, 2020. On the same day Trump had signed into law Hong Kong Autonomy Act, one ...

President Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021. ...

for undermining Hong Kong's autonomy. On 10 February 2021, Carrie Lam awarded Lo the Chief Executive's Commendation for Government/Public Service for his "significant contribution to combatting the social disturbance in 2019 and safeguarding national security".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lo, Stephen 1961 births Living people Alumni of the University of Hong Kong Government officials of Hong Kong Hong Kong Police commissioners Individuals sanctioned by the United States under the Hong Kong Autonomy Act