Police Commissioner Joe Chow Yat-ming is on Straight Talk this week. As the newly appointed commissioner of police, Chow talks about his objectives, his plans, and how smart policing measures are turning Hong Kong into a safer city.

Check out the full transcript of TVB’s Straight Talk host Dr Eugene Chan’s interview with Commissioner Joe Chow:

Chan: Good evening! I'm Eugene Chan on Straight Talk, and our guest is Hong Kong’s new police commissioner, Joe Chow, appointed just this April. Commissioner Chow brings with him three decades of experience in criminal investigation, intelligence and strategic operations. He has held senior roles across crime, operations and personnel divisions and previously served at Interpol in France. Commissioner Chow holds degrees from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Hong Kong and has also trained at various mainland and overseas training institutes, including Harvard and the UK College of Policing. Tonight, he will share with us how the force is outsmarting crime with technology and innovation. Welcome, Joe!

Chow: Hi. Thank you. Thank you, Eugene!

Chan: Very happy to have you here, and I want to extend our warmest congratulations on your new appointment as the new commissioner of police. And how do you feel so far as a CP?

Chow: Of course, I feel it's a great honor and privilege to be appointed as the commissioner of police, and I would also like to once again extend my thanks to the chief executive for his nomination and also the CPG for the appointment. I feel very privileged that I can serve as the Commissioner to lead the force to continue the legacy.

Chan: Right, Joe. I mean, the last few years, you are already in the senior leadership team, and now being really at the helm of the Force, what will be your top priority that you think should be doing right at this moment?

Chow: I have three areas of focus, mainly. First of all, it’s national security – to safeguard national security and also to enhance the public awareness of national security. And secondly, it’s to promote a smart policing, i.e. to review our workflow, and also to leverage on technology to help our force to hopefully that we can give a better services to the public; and thirdly, it is to strengthen the team culture, i.e. to promote, to advocate One Team policy. Right?

Chan: We will look at smart policing and team culture in a minute. I have checked your website. The vision for the Hong Kong Police Force is to make sure Hong Kong remains one of the safest and most stable cities in the world, and I'm sure we all are very proud of that, and I thank the police force and also other disciplinary forces for making that happen. National security is very important. See, Hong Kong has been through quite a challenging time since 2014 until recent 2019 so things have moved quite rapidly now. And you mentioned smart policing. Has it got to do with the … if you look at the landscape now, the crimes used to be robbery, theft, burglary, and now a lot of it is cybercrimes or scams. So, is smart policing targeting that for the population?

Chow: Yes and no, to be honest. The overall crime situation has been stable for years, and I wouldn't take it for granted, because, of course, it counts for a lot of hard work behind the scene by our officers and but how to leverage on the technology, hopefully that we can at least to enhance the operational efficiency and effectiveness. It is our main focus.

Chan: Let's go back to those deception cases getting more and more. Can you share with the viewers who are the typical sort of victims, and what is the usual thing that will happen to them, and how can we prevent that from happening to us?

Chow: I think it's all walks of life. It's not like people may think, or maybe the elderly or maybe the juvenile, but it's not the case actually. In all walks of life, everyone could have been victimized, and it very much depends, and especially nowadays, we all use mobile phones, and also we’re used to browse the internet, so we may be fond of playing easily. So, that's why people, the scammers, they know how to play the games. That's why we have to be advanced, at least we can't be that reactive like other crimes.

Chan: So, what can the citizens do if they receive unknown phone calls? Should they not pick it up? Period.

Chow: At least, at least they can pick it up, because sometimes I understand all the phone calls are by the con artists. Some of them are genuine calls, but at least when they speak, when they speak to the unknown people that at least when they are asked to pay money, or if that people, that they claim to be mainland officials then at least they have to be very, very cautious, because we have been doing quite a lot, especially in the publicity side. They're trying to tell the public what they should be aware of and how to prevent being victimized. That is also … that's why we also, a couple of years ago, we launched the Scameter+ – the Scameter, which is the application on the mobile phone. And also, there's a website that we hope that the public can just download the applications on the mobile phone so that they will be notified if the callers are having some dubious origins.

Chan: Right, I think one very important comment you made just now is it can happen to anybody …

Chow: Anybody.

Chan: … and from all walks of life. One, we must be very careful, especially, have to transfer money to somebody.

Chow: Yes, true.

Chan: Right. When you talk about smart policing, are you mentioning things like artificial intelligence or facial recognition? What exactly do you mean by smart policing?

Chow: The first step would be some hardware. You can see we have the Project Smart View, which is talking about the installation of CCTV around the territory. So, right now, like last year, we have launched this project, and have already installed 615 and then this year, we will continue to install another 1,385, a total of 2000 and then for the year after that, we will continue, we will continue this project. But looking at the effectiveness, we find it is really, really effective. Because talking about last year, only some 600 CCTVs, we have already, based on these CCTVs, we have already detected (122) cases in a very short period of time, even for some very serious crimes like murder and robbery, etc. But talking about this first quarter in 2025, the number of cases detected because of using this technology have already been two-folded, talking about 226. So we can see the effectiveness, and of course, the next part, again, I wouldn't take it for granted, because behind the scene, a lot of our offices, they use countless, tirelessly, and then they try to view all the CCTVs. But of course, the next step would be how to optimize the result by using technology, say, for example, the artificial intelligence that you have mentioned, that we can use the AI right now. A lot of other countries, they are also using AI to analyze the CCTV, so that we don't need to rely on officers to sit in front of the monitor to take hours to view the CCTV footage. Apart from the CCTV, we hope that we can also use other means to enhance what we can help the public with. For example, we have the HKSOS, another mobile phone application, and which is for rescue. And then we can use the real-time location tracking to help people if they want to go for some outdoor activities, if they have encountered any problems, so that we can find in a very short period of time that we can already locate. And we have already saved almost 200 people because of this.

Chan: I think this HKSOS AI is quite well publicized in the news, that I think the police force actually have received an international critical communication award in Dubai recently.

Chow: Yes, yes.

Chan: I think, being a Hong Kong person, we are very, very proud. And actually, since you mentioned about the CCTV, I'm just wondering, because to the viewers, they may think 2,000 is a lot. But if you compare it to, because of my different work, I managed to know that, we are far less than Macao, far less than Singapore, not to mention London. So, should we have even more CCTVs for Hong Kong?

Chow: Yes, of course. To be honest, right after we launched the project, and I met a lot of community leaders and politicians and some other members of public. Some of them, they even asked whether we can speed up the installation and also … or to install some CCTV, some sort of CCTV around their neighborhood, because they feel safe. This is … but once again, I have to emphasize that it's not the … you know, a lot of hard work behind the scene by my officers.

Chan: Since you mentioned installing the hardware, how about training for your officers, because they need to be able to combat all these cybercrimes and uphold cybersecurity.

Chow: Oh, yes.

Chan: Any plans in terms of training, in terms of making them even better at this?

Chow: Yeah, we have the CSTCB, the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau, handling almost all technology crime, but underneath, they have the Cyber Training Centre of Excellence that provides different sorts of related training courses for our officers. Apart from that, we have also formed an auxiliary cadre. It's an auxiliary cadre of police officers because some of them are from the IT industry. So, they have the expertise, they have the knowledge. So, we ask them to form up a cadre and then to help. And we also have every region, land region that we will also form up technology, crime, initial response, cadre so that they will be trained to speed up all the investigation. Apart from that, we also send, like, last year, we sent 30 offices for distance-learning master degree course right at the University College Dublin.

Chan: Oh.

Chow: Yes, this is for the at least … to let them get better equipped for all this kind of … and then internally that we have the PTV, what we call this PTV. It is an internal, the intranet, on our intranet that we can spread these kind of training materials through this PTV. So, that is just like some other social media, but it's internally used.

Chan: Right, CP, time for a quick break now. And please don't go anywhere. We won't be long.

Chan: Welcome back. You are watching Straight Talk with Eugene Chan, and we are back with Police Commissioner Joe Chow. We have been talking about smart policing with the latest technology. So, CP, you have assured us that in 2025, one of your top priorities is using smart policing to help to make Hong Kong even a better, safer, and more stable place. Just now you mentioned about CCTV, and we mentioned that we should have more CCTV. But when that happens, there will be undoubtedly some concern from the community saying about how you balance between surveillance and privacy. So, how do you sort of balance this and assure our public that their privacy will be respected, especially having facial recognition?

Chow: Over the past decades, we have actually accumulated a wealth of experience in this regard, and also we are committed to complying with all the requirements of the Personal Data Privacy Ordinance. In fact, we also have very strict internal guidelines, and also audit trial, to prevent from any misuse of data. So, I think that we have attached great importance in this regard.

Chan: Right. So, nothing to be concerned?

Chow: No.

Chan: Right. Joe, another area I look at under your webpage, one of your purposes is to working in partnership with the community. And I am sure all that can be communicated through your local police stations. So, what specific steps do you have in mind to sort of improve or build the mutual trust for public safety?

Chow: In terms of technology, I would say this is one of the key areas that at least we provide better services to the community, that we can gain the public trust. For instance, we have used the self-service kiosk.

Chan: Right, yes.

Chow: Overall, we have now 24 different kiosks in police stations, MTR stations, and border crossing points, and also the airport. And even now at the Kai Tak Sports Park … we have one there. And so, at least we have already used it for years, and I think the popularity has been increased. So, that also indicates somehow the public trust, that at least the people, they will trust … and also they save the time. So, this is one of the … I think it is a classic example.

Chan: Another area I am sure the viewers would like to know is with all the recent budget constraints with the whole government, how do you plan to balance the spending on this new technology, say on smart policing, while keeping all the essential services running smoothly?

Chow: Yeah, the underlying principle would be absolutely do more with less.

Chan: Right.

Chow: And hopefully when we use the technology, we can at least reduce the manpower. And by means of smart policing, I am not only talking about digital policing, but also internally we have to review the workflow and try to see if we can re-engineer the overall work process, so that we can better deploy our resources.

Chan: Right. So, CP, so you are now trying to work less, right?

Chow: Yep.

Chan: You sort of do more and work less, so be very efficient because we all know that it has been some challenges in terms of recruiting new policemen for the front line. Is that still a concern for you?

Chow: It used to be, yeah, but because of the shrinking labor market, the workforce in the labor market. But right now, last year, we have already successfully recruited like over a thousand officers, including constables and inspectors. So, it is almost the same level as before the COVID.

Chan: Right.

Chow: So, I think the situation, we are just around the corner. And of course, but there are always rooms for improvement that we will continue, we will try to have more different new initiatives. And also, again, talking about smart policing, that we have another mobile application for recruitment, so that the people, if they want to join police, they want to get more information, they don't need to surf the website, they can just download the application. And also there is a lot of information and materials, and also they can make the applications there. So, they can also check the progress of the application.

Chan: Really?

Chow: Yes. So, I hope that, yet again, that we can recruit more talents to join police, to serve the community. And also just like earlier this month, we have just the new group of graduates from the cadet training. We worked alongside the three higher level institutes for the DAE, the Diploma of Applied Education. So, the 116 new graduates, they will join the police once we find that they are suitable later in July, and hopefully that I will see all 116.

Chan: Right. And also we know that Hong Kong is sort of a very sort of, sort of wide … sort of community-based community, whereby we have a lot of ethnic minorities as well. Do we still have a sort of more ethnic sort of new police officers?

Chow: Oh, yes, yes, absolutely. This is the, like in Yau Tsim, we have the ‘Project Gemstone’; and in Yuen Long, we have the ‘Project Himalaya’. So, this is all the projects internally. We have different police districts, we have different kind of programs depending on the overall situation of that particular district. So, to help, at least to help the ethnic minorities, say for example, at least to train up their Cantonese or Chinese.

Chan: Yes.

Chow: Because some of them they were born here, maybe their Chinese education, maybe it is not up to standard, but at least after the ‘Project Gemstone’ for over 10 years, already over 100 joined us.

Chan: And also, I mean, we often sort of, since you are here, CP, I want to ask you sort of more direct questions now at Straight Talk. We do sort of read from newspapers that sometimes there may be some police officers sort of with misconduct, just like any other organizations. So, anything that you would sort of enhance their integrity before they join the force? Because inevitably, it does affect the image of the good work that everybody has done. So, would you do anything about that at all?

Chow: I can’t agree more with that, your statement … well, honestly, the overall factors still are stable, but I would say one is just too many. One is just too many.

Chan: Indeed.

Chow: So, yes, before, actually before the recruitment, before we take on strength, that we will do a round of drug tests, for example, and also some sort of test to ensure that we recruited the right caliber to join the force because we know that public will have a high expectation on the integrity on police officers.

Chan: Right. And in the last part of the show, I think, I am sure the viewers would like to know more about the area that you just mentioned that is very important to you, it is sort of team culture. We know that the police department is a large department, up to 30,000 people or more. You have a lot of frontline officers, and also frontline constables and also officers. How do you make them gel, especially, for example, if you sort of give a command, it goes down to the region, to the district, how does the message clearly communicated with the officer and vice versa? How do you do that?

Chow: Well, we have 181 years of history. It is a very fine culture internally. Especially in the past 20 years, that we have placed a lot of emphasis on internal communications. So, of course, I have to make sure that all the messages will be spread to different levels of our offices to make sure that we are on the same page, that we won't be having any misunderstandings, miscommunications. This is my role and this is also my duty. So, I have already discussed with my core management team and to ensure that it will continue to be like that. And then talking about team culture, this is … we will continue to try to give better support to our frontline officers in terms of training, in terms of career opportunities, etc.

Chan: Right. CP, we mentioned earlier that Hong Kong is one of the safest cities, and we should not be complacent. If you'd like to speak to the community now, what message would you tell them so that they can support your work?

Chow: We will continue our work, and we will continue to ensure Hong Kong to be one of the safest and most stable societies in the world.

Chan: Thank you, Commissioner Chow, for sharing with us your objectives, and your plans, and the good work that you have laid down for our police force. And as you have shared, our city continues to be one of the safest in the world. And we know that with continued vigilance and public cooperation, Hong Kong will remain a safe and secure place for all. That is all from Straight Talk from me, Eugene Chan, and see you next time.