PUBLISHED ONOctober 06, 2025 10:55 AMBYSean LerThe Singapore Police Force (SPF) will be getting a new leader after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced a leadership change on Monday (Oct 6).
How Kwang Hwee, 46, will be appointed Commissioner of Police on Jan 6.
He will take over from Hoong Wee Teck, 62, who is retiring after 10 years in the role.
How joined the SPF in 1998 and rose to his present post as Deputy Commissioner of Police (Policy) in 2024.
He had previously led the Operations Department as its director and was also the Deputy Commissioner for Investigation and Intelligence.
How is credited with leading the planning and execution of several major operations, including the security operations of the Trump-Kim Summit in 2018 and the anti-money laundering cases which resulted in the arrest of 10 foreign nationals.
"As Deputy Commissioner (Policy), How has been helping Hoong drive technological transformation in the SPF, in particular the adoption of artificial intelligence to strengthen capabilities in investigation, and crime prevention and detection," MHA said in a statement, adding that How has also led the review of SPF's service delivery strategy and steered the transformation of its public-facing services.
Hoong joined SPF in 1987 and rose to become the Commissioner of Police in January 2015 in a career which spanned 38 years.
He has held numerous key appointments, including Deputy Commissioner (Investigations and Intelligence), Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, and Director of the Police Intelligence Department.
"During his tenure as Commissioner, Hoong significantly strengthened the capabilities of the SPF," said MHA.
"New technological capabilities have been built for crime fighting and prevention, including unmanned aerial vehicles for patrols and incident response, and a police camera network with video analytics in public spaces, which has significantly improved the success rate of, and speed with which the SPF has been able to solve crime such as robberies."
The outgoing commissioner is also credited with establishing the Anti-Scam Command and Emergency Response Teams.
In the first half of 2025, scam cases and losses have decreased by 26 per cent and 12.6 per cent from the same period in 2024.
MHA also paid tribute to Hoong's loyal service and inspiring leadership of the SPF: "Under Hoong's leadership, Singapore has remained one of the safest cities in the world, with consistently low crime rates, and high public trust in the SPF."
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