Controversies of the Hong Kong Police Force
[3] Due to a lack of resources to sustain this huge increase in their population, police enforcements were reliant on its staff sergeants (senior non-commissioned officers), who wielded significant power and influence within their districts, often imposing excessive rule over their subordinates.
During the 1950s and 1960s, syndicated criminals paid regular sums of money to the staff sergeants who, in turn, used couriers and book keepers to share their ill-gotten gains amongst the officers and constables of their respective police districts.
In 1969, Queen Elizabeth II honored the Force with the 'Royal' title to recognize its loyalty, dedication and efforts to restore law and order during the 1967 disturbances.
[5][6] Moreover, in 1973, a highly decorated officer, Chief Superintendent Peter Godber, became embroiled in a corruption scandal when Sutcliffe found him to have amassed HK$4.3 million in assets.
[7] The Hong Kong Police's official history cited poor pay as one of the primary factors that motivated officers to engage in corruption.
[4] Resulting from the reforms of 1979 and the early 1980s, the Royal Hong Kong Police regained its good name and reputation and began marketing itself as "Asia's Finest".
[1] It developed a strong track record for fighting crime, and enjoyed the reputation of being one of the most professional, efficient, honest and impartial police forces in the Asia Pacific region.
[10][28][30][19][31] Fung Wai-wah, president of the Professional Teachers' Union, commented that "the police [during the Umbrella Revolution] have made themselves enemy of the people [literally overnight]".
[35] In a second case, a 14-year-old female who drew a chalk flower onto the Lennon Wall on 23 December 2014 was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage, detained by police for 17 hours, and then held against her will in a children's home for 20 days, but was never charged with any crime.
[42] The controversy gained international attention, and The Guardian produced a short documentary film, titled "The Infamous Chalk Girl" which was released in 2017.
[43][44] Use of the CPO device against minors involved in the Umbrella Movement was seen as "white terror" to deter young people from protesting and exercising free speech.
[45][46] According to the police, the suspect made a written confession of an assault that contradicted severely with statements obtained whilst interviewed with family members.
[46] Civil rights activists condemned the incident which traumatized a vulnerable individual, and criticized the police procedures including not proposing legal representation, lengthy detention, an methods for obtaining a bogus confession.
[46] Also in May 2015, police procedures for conducting identity parades attracted controversy when suspects in an assault case on television reporters were allowed to wear shower caps and face masks during an identity parade, ostensibly to cover distinctive features, leading to the police abandoning the case due to insufficient evidence.
Mention of communists and Maoists were expunged: for example, "Bombs were made in classrooms of left-wing schools and planted indiscriminately on the streets" became "Bombs were planted indiscriminately on the streets"; the fragment "waving aloft the Little Red Book and shouting slogans" disappeared, and an entire sentence criticizing the hypocrisy of wealthy pro-China businessmen, the so-called "red fat cats" was deleted.
The page was immediately inundated with tens of thousands of critical comments, many asking why the seven officers who beat the handcuffed protester a year earlier had not been arrested.
[54] On 12 June, they had fired 150 tear gas rounds, 20 beanbag shots, several rubber bullets and smoke bombs on protesters outside the Legislative Council complex.
[55] The New York Times released a video essay showing tear gas was deployed as an "offensive weapon" and that in several cases, unarmed protesters were beaten and dragged by police commanders.
[57] On 21 June 2019, Amnesty International examined various video footage and concluded that the Hong Kong police had used excessive force in 14 incidents.
82 election committees from the Medical, Health Services, and Legal function constituencies signed a joint proclamation stating that the police had arrested five people seeking public hospital treatment and also verbally threatened some nurses to try to obtain patient details.
[75] Following these incidents, lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting requested an independent investigation into police conduct, called for a review of video that may show the use of excessive force, and stated that failure to have warrant cards visibly displayed may be a violation of the law.
[82] On 21 July 2019, a mob of over 100 armed men dressed in white indiscriminately attacked civilians on the streets and passengers in the Yuen Long MTR station.
A group of police held an activist on the ground, pulled off his surgical mask, took photos of his face and recorded his ID without reason.
[103] Apple Daily also accused police chief Chris Tang of turning a blind eye to illegal structures on an apartment he previously rented.
[105] Police Commissioner Chris Tang has accused Apple Daily's attacks on senior officers of being retaliation for the 18 April arrest of the paper's founder, Jimmy Lai.
[106] During the coronavirus outbreak in 2020, the police force was accused for stockpiling protective gear while leaving other government departments and medical workers short of masks.
Legislator Kwok Ka-ki stated that the police stockpiled around 640,000 surgical masks and 13,000 N95 respirators, and intended to acquire 64,000 more face coverings in the next two months.
Police force issued an official complaint, stating that they express "extreme regret" and argued that the supply is needed for a large workforce.
[108] In February 2020, a leaked video showed that Chris Tang, the Police Commissioner and other senior officers at a private dinner with Jackie Chan, Eric Tsang and Alan Tam.
[114] In the same month, riot squad officers were filmed entering a convenience store while on duty, made off with a bottle of water without paying while calling out loudly "Coming back".
