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Jess Ma

Briskly walking down an office corridor at the Hong Kong police headquarters, a blond-haired uniformed officer energetically greets passing colleagues with a jovial “Wei hing dai!”, meaning “Hey, brother!” in Cantonese.
His office displays a kaleidoscopic collection of memorial coins and medals from law enforcement agencies worldwide, alongside a wall covered with pictures showing myriad police units, from frontline operations to the secretive VIP protection unit.
The officer was Assistant Commissioner David Jordan, 58, currently the highest-ranking expatriate policeman recruited during the colonial era still serving in the force this year.
Reflecting on his more than three-decade career, Jordan noted that public expectations regarding police service quality had risen over the years, encouraging a more empathetic policing approach. He urged officers to focus on empathy and on the “humanity aspects of policing” in frontline work.
“A lot of the time, people come into contact with police at their worst moments: they’ve been a victim of a crime [or] their friends have been a victim of a crime,” he said.
“We are there to investigate the criminal element of it, but we’re also their first port of call for reassurance.”

Using an example from a report about a lost mobile phone, Jordan said that officers should handle such cases as if their own family member were the victim, reminding themselves of the impact from the loss of precious photos stored on such devices.
His career began with a fateful decision in 1992, when he chose to try police work in Hong Kong, armed with impressions of the city gained during a six-week secondment with the British navy.
Born in Singapore while his father, a British naval officer, was stationed there, Jordan was educated in the United Kingdom and briefly followed in his father’s footsteps.
He credits his proficiency in Cantonese to his Chinese mother-in-law, who encouraged him to learn a word a day. Jordan passed both the police college graduation and mid-career oral exams in the local dialect and can now chair meetings and deliver speeches in the language.
Jordan is one of 25 police officers, ranging from inspectors to assistant commissioners, serving under overseas contracts in the force this year. They were all hired overseas up until 1994 during the colonial era.
A force spokesman said that all expatriate officers were expected to retire within 10 years, with timing subject to changes such as early retirement. It has been separately learned that the last ones are expected to retire no later than 2033, as they may seek service extension until the age of 60.
Jordan, the assistant commissioner of operations, has served in the VIP protection unit, a goal he held since the start of his career, and has been present at almost all major protests and large-scale events held in the city since the handover in 1997.

“On my side of the house, because it’s operations, it really is [about] being able to make decisions with consequences, but thinking them through quickly, and then analysing and making judgment calls. That’s something I really enjoy,” Jordan said.
He said he had “begged and begged” to be involved in operations during large-scale protests by South Korean farmers at a World Trade Organization ministerial conference held in the city in 2006.
The scale of the demonstrations triggered extensive planning by the force, including negotiations with protesters. More than 1,000 protesters were arrested after clashes with officers outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.
When Hong Kong hosted the equestrian events for the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Jordan, then a chief inspector, was responsible for mass transport arrangements.
Nearly 20 years later, he found himself at the centre of the city’s planning for the National Games, after the successful opening of Kai Tak Sports Park in March, where he also formed part of the team overseeing preparations for its launch.
He said his team had built on lessons learned during stress tests and mock events at the sports park, as well as experience collaborating with other government departments, to ensure the National Games in November would be a success.
“It’s learning from experience, and ultimately, it’s having the right people doing the right jobs,” Jordan said.
Jordan first came under public scrutiny as a commander during the Occupy Central movement in 2014, and later as commandant of the Police Tactical Unit during the anti-government protests in 2019, where he oversaw frontline operations, including a Special Tactical Squad known as the “raptors”.

The operations veteran described the 2019 protests as the most challenging public order experience in his career, primarily due to what he called the collision of professional and personal abuse from some members of the public.
Police officers, protesters, politicians and journalists from both pro-establishment and opposition backgrounds were doxxed during the unrest, with phone numbers and addresses publicised. Jordan was one of them.
“You can abuse me in uniform, and I have a shield whereby it’s my uniform. I don’t take it personally,” the father of three said.
“But if you start to take what I do for a living and start to swear at my wife at ParknShop, or you abuse my kids, or your kids abuse my kids. Even now, I still think that’s fundamentally unacceptable.”
Jordan said he had carried out his duties during the unrest “with all good intent,” to maintain stability and restore safety.
Besides leading frontline operations, Jordan has taken part in the force’s Operation Breakthrough, a non-profit programme where police volunteers engage with troubled youth in sports.
Jordan, whose retirement is scheduled for next May, said he planned to stay in Hong Kong, where he met his Canadian-Chinese wife, to maintain the city’s compact lifestyle that allows for a hike, a beach visit, cycling and drinks at Lan Kwai Fong all in the same day.
“I’m quite sociable. I get bored easily, so I think I’d like to look out for work afterwards, whether anyone’s willing to accept me,” he chuckled.


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Hong Kong

Law and Crime

Assistant Commissioner David Jordan reflects on bridging cultures, balancing tradition, protests and progress throughout his 30-year career


Assistant Commissioner David Jordan reflects on bridging cultures, balancing tradition, protests and progress throughout his 30-year career.


.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Assistant Commissioner David Jordan reflects on bridging cultures, balancing tradition, protests and progress throughout his 30-year career

Assistant Commissioner David Jordan reflects on bridging cultures, balancing tradition, protests and progress throughout his 30-year career