Keith Yip, director of crime and security, has been appointed deputy commissioner of police (operations), replacing Joe Chow, who was promoted to police chief earlier this month.
Yip assumed his new role on Monday, weeks after Chow took up the post of police commissioner on April 2.
Yip joined the police force as an inspector in 1991, according to an official statement. Between 2013 and 2014, he was seconded to the Interpol General Secretariat in Lyon, France. He was promoted to senior superintendent in 2014, then to chief superintendent in 2017.
Yip’s biography states that he has a “wealth of experience in the field of criminal investigation” and has “worked in a variety of crime posts relating to criminal intelligence, serious and organized crime investigation, as well as policy-making.”
“Yip holds a degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in administrative leadership, and attended courses at the Chinese Academy of Governance, Peking University, the Australian Institute of Police Management, the FBI National Academy, the International Pearl Fishers Action Learning Group and the John Kennedy School of Government, Harvard,” according to the force.
He was promoted to assistant commissioner in 2020 and took charge of the Crime Wing. Upon promotion to senior assistant commissioner in 2022, he became director of crime and security.
Yip’s predecessor, Chow, is known for leading a two-week police operation around the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) during the peak of the 2019 protests and unrest.
Chow took the helm of the police force this month after Raymond Siu stepped down following 36 years of service.
