The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) struggled with corruption among its ranks from the 1940s until the 1970s. It gained the nickname "Asia's Finest" after undergoing reforms in 1979. Since the 2010s, the force has faced allegations of police brutality, sexual assault, excessive use of violence, falsification of evidence, and a lack of professionalism.

1940–70s: Post-war struggle with corruption After the Second World War ended in 1945, Hong Kong faced an economic slump. Trade became much slower than what it was before the war. Meanwhile, an ongoing civil war in China forced thousands of Chinese refugees to flood the British colony, and later to escape the Cultural Revolution enforced by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party. Due to a lack of resources to sustain this huge increase in their population, police enforcements were reliant on its staff sergeants (senior non-commissioned officers), who wielded significant power and influence within their districts, often imposing excessive rule over their subordinates.

Corruption began to run rampant and tarnish the reputation of the Hong Kong Police. Officers were paid very little in comparison with other civil servants and with others in society in general. Some officers accepted bribes to turn a blind eye towards syndicated vice, drugs and illegal gambling activities. During the 1950s and 1960s, syndicated criminals paid regular sums of money to the staff sergeants who, in turn, used couriers and book keepers to share their ill-gotten gains amongst the officers and constables of their respective police districts.

This became an increasing concern for the colonial government, but corruption was temporarily overshadowed by the 1967 Hong Kong riots that threatened the stability and very existence of the British colony. In 1969, Queen Elizabeth II honored the Force with the 'Royal' title to recognize its loyalty, dedication and efforts to restore law and order during the 1967 disturbances. Princess Alexandra then became its Commandant General. Thus the Force changed its name to the Royal Hong Kong Police.

Although not confined to the police but tarnishing other government departments and the wider business community as well, police corruption re-emerged as a major concern in the early 1970s. The Commissioner of Police, Charles Sutcliffe, ordered investigations to break the culture of corruption and this caused over forty Chinese officers to flee Hong Kong with more than HK$80 million cash (about HK$2 million each). Moreover, in 1973, a highly decorated officer, Chief Superintendent Peter Godber, became embroiled in a corruption scandal when Sutcliffe found him to have amassed HK$4.3 million in assets. Godber fled the colony after learning of his intended arrest, prompting a public outcry. These events precipitated the formation of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in 1974, which the government gave wide-ranging powers to investigate and bring to justice corrupt elements in Hong Kong society. The Hong Kong Police's official history cited poor pay as one of the primary factors that motivated officers to engage in corruption. Investigators mounted a series of raids on police stations throughout the colony, sometimes bringing many officers to ICAC offices for questioning. Police discontent with this situation peaked in 1977 and the government offered an amnesty to all serving officers after junior police officers demonstrated at the Police Headquarters in Wanchai and the ICAC offices near Admiralty.

1979–2010: Re-organization and "Asia's Finest"

Following the amnesty, the police force re-organized itself, introducing new layers of management, police procedures and supervisory accountability to deter and detect corrupt elements within its ranks. The government also greatly improved police remuneration and overhauled the terms and conditions of their service—arguably removing the incentive for corruption.

Resulting from the reforms of 1979 and the early 1980s, the Royal Hong Kong Police regained its good name and reputation and began marketing itself as "Asia's Finest". It developed a strong track record for fighting crime, and enjoyed the reputation of being one of the most professional, efficient, honest and impartial police forces in the Asia Pacific region. The force enjoyed the esteem and confidence of the public it served, as demonstrated by the University of Hong Kong opinion polls between 1997 and 2007. Its popularity peaked in 2007 with a net approval rating of 79 percentage points.

2010s–present

Sexual assault allegations Since 2014, there have been reports of police officers involved in sexual assaults on female victims. In one high-profile case involving an officer with six years' service molesting a female within Police Headquarters toilet, the officer was convicted of indecent assault and abuse of power. There had been an incident in 2008, when a woman was raped inside Mong Kok police station by a policeman.

In 2021, a former policeman was sentenced to five-year imprisonment on Tuesday after a sentence review, in which he originally got 46 months in jail for indecently assaulting six underage girls. He pleaded guilty to 8 counts of indecent assault and unlawful sexual intercourse committed between 2017 and 2018 when he was still in the force. Originally released on bail, he was arrested again after committing another crime resulting in the present sentence.

2014 Umbrella Movement Police brutality allegations Police were criticized for violently attacking protesters in October 2014, as well as for allegedly colluding with triads and thugs against peaceful protesters.

Seven officers were convicted and sentenced to two years in prison in early 2017, after a video tape surfaced of them beating a handcuffed protester in police custody on 15 October 2014, sparking outrage and accusations of police brutality. The commissioner of police, pro-Beijing politicians, and thousands of members of the police unions publicly supported the convicted officers.

As a result of Andy Tsang's unpopular decisions and comments as Chief of Police, critics nicknamed him "Vulture". The approval rating of the police declined from mid-2012 to 2015 with the record low net approval of 21 percentage points set in early 2015.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Tsang was responsible for politicization of the police during his tenure and aligning policing objectives with the state. Police failure to respond to assaults against certain groups, heavy-handed treatment of protesters during the "Umbrella Revolution", deployment of riot police and 87 instances of tear gas use against unarmed students, caused disquiet among the public and some senior police staffers. The police were seen to have become a political tool in support of a governance system that is overseeing the replacement of rule of law with "rule by law" as defined by the CCP. Fung Wai-wah, president of the Professional Teachers' Union, commented that "the police [during the Umbrella Revolution] have made themselves enemy of the people [literally overnight]".

Failure to prosecute a police superintendent for assault The Hong Kong Police came under fire for failing to charge police superintendent Franklin Chu King-wai, now retired, who was filmed hitting civilians with a police baton when uniformed officers were directing a line of passers-by to move along after a protest in Mong Kok on 26 November 2014. The day before Chu was due to retire in July 2015, the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) established by a majority decision that a complaint against Chu was justified. The internal Complaints Against Police Office (CAPO) disagreed and sought legal advice from the Department of Justice. Chu was eventually charged, convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment.

Misuse of care and protection orders allegations

In December 2014, the police caused concern when they applied for Care and Protection Orders (CPO) for two youths, one of whom was arrested during the protests. Police arrested one 14-year-old male for contempt of court during the clearance of Mong Kok and applied for a CPO. The CPO was cancelled four weeks later when the Department of Justice decided that they would not prosecute.

In a second case, a 14-year-old female who drew a chalk flower onto the Lennon Wall on 23 December 2014 was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage, detained by police for 17 hours, and then held against her will in a children's home for 20 days, but was never charged with any crime. A magistrate decided in favor of a CPO pursuant to a police application, deeming it "safer." The incident created uproar as she was taken away from her hearing-impaired father, and was unable to go to school. On 19 January, another magistrate rescinded the protection order for "Chalk Girl" (粉筆少女) after reviewing a report from a social worker. The handling of the situation by the police raised concerns, as there was no explanation as to why the police failed to locate and consult a social worker before applying for the order in accordance with proper procedures. The controversy gained international attention, and The Guardian produced a short documentary film, titled "The Infamous Chalk Girl" which was released in 2017. Use of the CPO device against minors involved in the Umbrella Movement was seen as "white terror" to deter young people from protesting and exercising free speech.

Framing allegations

In May 2015, a man was arrested, detained from 2 to 4 May for in excess of 48 hours and wrongfully accused of murder. The man was autistic, and the police failure to handle such a case sparked controversy. According to the police, the suspect made a written confession of an assault that contradicted severely with statements obtained whilst interviewed with family members. A nursing home later offered the suspect an alibi, corroborated with video evidence, that the man could not have been at the alleged crime scene. Civil rights activists condemned the incident which traumatized a vulnerable individual, and criticized the police procedures including not proposing legal representation, lengthy detention, an methods for obtaining a bogus confession. The police chief expressed "regret" but refused to make an apology. Also in May 2015, police procedures for conducting identity parades attracted controversy when suspects in an assault case on television reporters were allowed to wear shower caps and face masks during an identity parade, ostensibly to cover distinctive features, leading to the police abandoning the case due to insufficient evidence. The police stance was confirmed by the new Chief Commissioner.

Revisionism allegations

In mid-September 2015, media reported that the police had made material deletions from its website concerning "police history", in particular, the political cause and the identity of the groups responsible for the 1967 riots. Mention of communists and Maoists were expunged: for example, "Bombs were made in classrooms of left-wing schools and planted indiscriminately on the streets" became "Bombs were planted indiscriminately on the streets"; the fragment "waving aloft the Little Red Book and shouting slogans" disappeared, and an entire sentence criticizing the hypocrisy of wealthy pro-China businessmen, the so-called "red fat cats" was deleted. The editing gave rise to criticisms that it was being sanitized, to make it appear that the British colonial government, rather than leftists, were responsible. Stephen Lo, the new Commissioner of Police, said the content change of the official website was to simplify it for easier reading; Lo denied that there were any political motives, but his denials left critics unconvinced.