The Hong Kong Police Force (from 1969 to 1997, Royal Hong Kong Police Force) is the police force of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

Contents

1 History 2 The HK Police Today 3 Commissioners of Police 4 External link

History

The Hong Kong Police was established by the British colonial government on May 1, 1844. Originally it consisted of Caucasian officers and Indian (mostly Sikh) constables, but were soon joined by policemen of Chinese and other races. Each ethnicity was assigned an alphabetical letter: "A" for Caucasians, "B" for Indians, "C" for Chinese, and so on. The headdress also varied according to ethnicity: the Caucasians wore the kepi, the Indians wore the turban, and the Chinese wore a form of straw hat. All of them, however, shared the same green uniform. These are best described by a well-known Cantonese phrase:

"ABCD,

大頭綠衣,

捉人唔到,

猛吹BB!"

Which means:

"ABCD (the ethnic designation),

Big Head (the turban), Green Coat,

Not catching the person,

Keeps blowing the whistle!"

The legacy continues today: up until December 2004 the HK Police summer uniform was still green, (The winter uniform is dark blue), a new blue all-year uniform has been adopted. At first the police officers were unarmed, but they were soon issued with firearms, and modern HK police officers continue to carry them today.

Over the years the proportion of Chinese staff within the HK Police had increased, although for many decades the senior leadership remained exclusively British. Female police officers were introduced soon after World War II.

During the 1950s and the 1960s officers of many government departments were openly corrupt; attempts to stamp out corruptions had largely failed, until the establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption of Hong Kong in 1974. Since then the HK Police has consistently been ranked one of the "cleanest" in Asia, probably second only to Singapore.

In 1967, at the same time as the Cultural Revolution in China, left-wing workers instigated long and bloody riots. The HK Police lost ten men during the turmoil. For its effort in suppressing the riots, HK Police was granted the "Royal" title in 1969; this made the Royal Hong Kong Police one of only five in the Commonwealth of Nations which had received this honour.

The HK Police Today

On July 1, 1997, Hong Kong reverted to Chinese sovereignty. The HK Police thus removed its "Royal" title, and changed its insignia accordingly. Its structure and mission, however, has remained essentially the same.

As of 2003, the HK Police has over 27,000 uniformed personnel, plus more than 4,000 Auxiliary police personnel. Apart from the usual law and order and traffic policing duties, the HK Police has the task of patrolling Hong Kong's internal border with mainland China (thus deterring illegal immigrants). It also has the largest water police force in the world, with 147 vessels of various types.

One noteworthy division of the HK Police is the Police Tactical Unit (PTU). Apart from possessing an extremely well-equipped riot police force, the PTU also has the Special Duties Unit (SDU, nicknamed 飛虎隊 "Flying Tigers"), a secretive and elite unit which receives SAS-style training, and is often elevated to the status of superheroes by the local media and population alike.

Unlike some other Asian countries, residents of Hong Kong largely trust and respect their police force: they would usually call a police officer "Ah Sir" or "Madam". Many HK Police officer can speak fluent English and/or Standard Mandarin as well as Cantonese.

Commissioners of Police

The Commissioner is the head of the Hong Kong Police.

• Lee Kun Ha
• Hui Kay On
• Lee Ming-kwai (since December 2003)

External link

• Hong Kong Police (http://www.info.gov.hk/police)
• History of Hong Kong Police (http://www.info.gov.hk/police/english/m-his.htm)