Who is Captain Hom from Dragon Bones: A Novel and what is their importance?

Captain Hom is the police chief in Bashan, and when his brother-in-law skirted the law to build a local bridge that collapsed and killed many individuals, Hom turned a blind eye. Hom is not a bad person, but his attempts at maintaining peace in an area filled with justified anger and frustration do little good. In the end, he is brutally killed by his own officer, Su, who is a member of the Society, and by Xiao Da.