The Secretary for Security is the member of the Hong Kong Government in charge of the Security Bureau

Security Bureau (Hong Kong)

The Security Bureau is a body of the Government of Hong Kong responsible for a range of activities, including law enforcement, search and rescue and administer various laws in relation to the security of Hong Kong....

, which is responsible for public safety, security, and immigration matters.

The post was created in 1973 and since the Principal Officials Accountability System

Principal Officials Accountability System

Principal Officials Accountability System , commonly referred to as the Ministerial system, sometimes the Accountability system, was introduced in Hong Kong by Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa in July 2002...

 was adopted in 2002, the Secretary for Security has been a member of the Executive Council

Executive Council of Hong Kong

The Executive Council of Hong Kong is a core policy-making organ in the executive branch of the government of Hong Kong.. The Chief Executive of Hong Kong serves as its President.The Executive Council normally meets once a week...

.

Areas of responsibility include:

• Police Force
  Hong Kong Police Force
  The Hong Kong Police Force is the largest disciplined service under the Security Bureau of Hong Kong. It is the world's second, and Asia's first, police agency to operate with a modern policing system. It was formed on 1 May 1844, with a strength of 32 officers...
  
  
• Correctional Services
  Hong Kong Correctional Services
  Hong Kong Correctional Services is responsible for prisoners and prisons in Hong Kong. The Commissioner of Correctional Services reports to the Secretary for Security....
  
  
• Immigration Department
  Immigration Department (Hong Kong)
  The Immigration Department of the Government of Hong Kong is responsible for immigration control of Hong Kong. After the People's Republic of China assumed sovereignty of the territory in July 1997, Hong Kong's immigration system remained largely unchanged from its British predecessor model...
  
  
• Customs and Excise Department
• Fire Services Department
  Fire Services Department (Hong Kong)
  Hong Kong Fire Services Department of the Hong Kong Government is an emergency service responsible for fire-fighting and rescue on land and sea...
  
  
• Government Flying Service
  Government Flying Service (Hong Kong)
  The Government Flying Service is a disciplined unit of the Government of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 April 1993, when Hong Kong was under British rule. It then took over all the non-military operations of the Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force , which was an auxiliary unit of the United...
  
  
• Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre
  Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre
  The Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre is responsible for coordinating air-sea rescue in Hong Kong and an extensive area of the South China Sea...
  
  

List of Secretaries for Security

• 1973-1974 George Peter Lloyd
• 1974 Lewis Mervyn Davis (戴宏志) - acting
• 1974 Richard Gnodde (羅以德)
• 1974-1982 Lewis Mervyn Davis (戴宏志)
• 1982-1988 David Gregory Jefferson (謝法新)
• 1988-1990 Geoffrey Barnes
• 1990-1995 Alistair Asprey (區士培)
• February 1995-mid-1998 Peter Lai
  Peter Lai
  Peter Lai , was Secretary for Security of Hong Kong from 1995 to 1998, spanning the important Handover to Chinese rule.-Career:Lai graduated from Hong Kong University with a first-class honours degree in history...
  
  
• 1998-2003 Regina Ip
  Regina Ip
  Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, GBS JP is a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong , as well as the co-founder and current chairwoman of the New People's Party and Savantas Policy Institute....
  
  
• 4 August 2003-present Ambrose Lee
  Ambrose Lee
  Ambrose Lee Siu-kwong IDSM JP is Secretary for Security of the Hong Kong and a member of the Executive Council. He was appointed to his post on 4 August 2003, replacing Regina Ip-Background:...