[1][2][3] In response to the Occupy Central Movement the police established the Special Tactical Contingent in September 2014 when the PTU suffered from heavy blockade or obstruction.

Most notably during the 2019 Prince Edward station attack and the siege of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

[citation needed] Apple Daily and New Tang Dynasty Television reported that SDU operators disguised as protesters provoked fights with protestors in order for them to be arrested.

A report by Amnesty International singled out the Special Tactical Contingent and riot police for "the worst abuses" of excessive force during the 2019–20 protests, noting that[21] "almost every arrested person interviewed described being beaten with batons and fists during the arrest, even when they were not resisting and often already restrained," along with multiple hospitalizations.Officers initially wore a dark blue PTU uniform.

[1][24] There was no Force requirement for a STC member to attach their service number or rank to their uniform although some officers did.

[25][1][26] During the 2016 Mong Kok civil unrest, the police found that the PTU uniform was not suitable for the contingent.

[1] In November 2020, the High Court found that the failure of the Commissioner of Police to establish and maintain a system to ensure that each police officer could be uniquely identified and that officers wear and prominently display a unique identification number or mark violated Article 3 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights.