Raymon Harry Anning ( Chinese: 顏理國, 22 July 1930 – 20 December 2020) was a Commissioner of Police of Hong Kong. In the early 1970s, he was a

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

of the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

in Greater London. He was later appointed as

HM Inspector of Constabulary His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) is a public body of the Scottish Government and reports to the Scottish Parliament. It has statutory responsibility for the inspection of the effectiveness and efficiency of the ...

for West and

South-West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

England, the British Midlands and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. In 1983, he was posted to Hong Kong as the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) until his promotion to Commissioner in 1985.

Early life

As a teenager, Anning was educated in Richmond and East Sheen County Grammar School for Boys,

East Sheen East Sheen, also known as Sheen, is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its long high street has shops, offices, restaurants, cafés, pubs and suburban supermarkets and is also the economic hub for Mort ...

, Greater London.''Mr Raymon Anning, CBE, QPM, CBIM''. Government Information Services of Hong Kong. October 1987. Retrieved 20 January 2010

Police career

Anning joined the

in 1952. He was promoted to Chief Superintendent in 1969 and placed in command of a contingent of London policemen to restore order to

Anguilla Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The territo ...

, which declared itself an independent republic. On return from Anguilla he commanded the Metropolitan Police Discipline Office. In 1973,

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

of the

Sir Robert Mark encountered an increasing concern about police

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

and behaviour. Detectives had been offered money to ignore crimes. Anning, then promoted to Commander, was placed in charge of a complaints department in

New Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

, with a codename A10, to investigate all complaints against the members of the force. Under Anning's command were 60 men (40

CID CID may refer to: Film * ''C.I.D.'' (1955 film), an Indian Malayalam film * ''C.I.D.'' (1956 film), an Indian Hindi film * ''C. I. D.'' (1965 film), an Indian Telugu film * ''C.I.D.'' (1990 film), an Indian Hindi film Television * ''CID'' ( ...

men and 20 uniformed officers) which later increased to 84. In its first sixth month, the new department investigated 451 complaints. At last, 90 officers were forced out. Fresh from his experience in New Scotland Yard, Anning was seconded to Hong Kong to advise the Government on the founding of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. On his return from Hong Kong in 1975, Anning was promoted to Deputy Assistant Commissioner, second-in-command of the

Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is distinct from its Special Branch (though officers of b ...

, Metropolitan Police. In 1979, Anning undertook a course at the National Executive Institute of the

FBI Academy The FBI Academy is the Federal Bureau of Investigation's law enforcement training and research center near the town of Quantico in Stafford County, Virginia. Operated by the bureau's Training Division, it was first opened for use on May 7, 197 ...

and was appointed one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Constabulary for England and Wales. On 17 July 1983 Anning replaced Peter Moor and took up his appointment as Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) of the Royal Hong Kong Police. Anning became Commissioner of Police on 15 April 1985. Prior to the end of his office, Anning faced the instability created by the

1989 Tiananmen Square Protests The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...

. On the morning of 7 June, following a slow demonstration march of trucks and lorries, rioters gathered at

Mong Kok Mong Kok (also spelled Mongkok, often abbreviated as MK) is an area in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The Prince Edward subarea occupies the northern part of Mong Kok. Mong Kok is one of the major shopping areas in Hong Kong. The area is characterised ...

and Yaumatei and destroyed nearby vehicles and building gates. PTU officers were called to action to control the situation. Police fired about 40 shots of

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ad ...

and arrested about 10 rioters. Anning later declared that the rioters were criminals whose actual motive was not to support the protests at

Tiananmen Square Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square (; 天安门广场; Pinyin: ''Tiān'ānmén Guǎngchǎng''; Wade–Giles: ''Tʻien1-an1-mên2 Kuang3-chʻang3'') is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the eponymous Tiananmen (" ...

Retirement

Anning was succeeded by

Li Kwan Ha Li Kwan-ha, CBE, QPM, CPM (; 3 July 1937 – 23 January 2017) was the first ethnic Chinese to be the Commissioner of Police in Hong Kong, serving from 1989 to 1994. Biography Li was born of Xinhui ancestry on 3 July 1937. He attended King's C ...

under instructions from

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

Douglas Hurd Douglas Richard Hurd, Baron Hurd of Westwell, (born 8 March 1930) is a British Conservative Party politician who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1979 to 1995. A career diplomat and political secretary to P ...

and approval of

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Wilson Wilson may refer to: People * Wilson (name) ** List of people with given name Wilson ** List of people with surname Wilson * Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender * Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson Ro ...

in 1989. He was the last Briton in the post of Hong Kong Police Commissioner.

Awards and honours

* 1975 –

Queen's Police Medal for Distinguished Service The King's Police Medal (KPM) is awarded to police in the United Kingdom for gallantry or distinguished service. It was also formerly awarded within the wider British Empire, including Commonwealth countries, most of which now have their own hono ...

* 1982 – Commander of the

Order of British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

* 1982 – Companion,

British Institute of Management The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is a professional institution for management based in the United Kingdom. The major membership classes are ''Member'', ''Fellow'' - for those with significant expertise - and ''Companion'' - the most sen ...

''Deputy Commissioner of Police Appointed''. Government Information Services of Hong Kong. 5 January 1983. Retrieved 20 January 2010

References

External links