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Two new Police Stations in Hong Kong. (Above) Bayview and (left) Shaukiwan.
REHABILITATION
AND THE
POLICE FORCE
HONG KONG
This is the first of a series of articles in which we intend to describe the buildings now completed and those which are planned for erection in the near future. We shall at the same time describe the composition of the Police Force and the organization which requires this accommodation.
INTRODUCTION
In spite of the tremendous importance of the role they play in maintaining law and order in every civilized com- munity, the Police Force usually work so unobtrusively and so efficiently that their work is taken very much for granted, and very few people give more than a passing thought to the intricacies of the organization upon which depends the safety of their lives and their possessions.
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Charge room at Shaukiwan,
Inspectors Quarters at Shaukiwan.
The risks and dangers to which the Police are exposed in a normal community are increased tremendously in Hong Kong, located as it is contiguous to a region from which lawless elements fostered by political, commercial and economic conditions have let loose upon the Colony individuals and organizations who engage in illicit operations of every descrip- tion in an endeavour to gain quick profits at the expense of the law-abiding. These nefarious operations undertaken often by well-armed men with a persistence and callousness that is truly amazing have added to the burdens and multiplied the risks of our local Police.
These difficulties and dangers are further increased by the nature of the terrain which comprises the territory of the Colony, with its innumerable islands, its tortuous, complex and exposed coast line, and its many hills and winding valleys which make it so extremely difficult effectively to patrol this comparatively small area.
Furthermore it has long been recognised that the task of the Police Force has not been made any easier by the lack of suitable accommodation from which the Force could be adminis- tered and its work carried out. Even prior to the outbreak of war in the Far East it was admitted that most of the stations were outrageously inadequate and antiquated. At Central Police Station the work of the various departments was being carried out in very crowded offices, and in most stations the dismal quarters allotted to the rank and file, and even to the inspectors themselves, did little to help their morale or evoka their enthusiasm.
The depredations of the Japanese occupation deprived the Police of even there facilities since most of the stations were badly damaged or entirely destroyed. As many of these build- ings as could be rapidly repaired were rehabilitated and in other districts make-shift accommodation was provided,
As a result of the rapid increase in population immediately following the Reoccupation the need for new buildings became acute, but it was not until last year that a serious reconstruc- tion programme was started. The Colony has now definitely embarked on a policy of modernising its Police Establishments, and new stations are being erected on the Island, in Kowloon, and in the New Territories. These, together with the new buildings being planned for offices, for a Training School, and for quarters, will provide facilities which will eventually make the organization one of the finest in the world.
THE PRESENT ORGANIZATION OF THE POLICE FORCE
From the Hong Kong Annual Report of 1949 we quota the following:-
Primarily the Force is divided into a Headquarters and two Branches, the Uniformed Branch and the C.I.D.
The Uniformed Branch comprises two territorial districts, which are subdivided into seven territorial divisions, the Traffic Branch, the Marine Police, and the Communications Branch. In addition there are certain task forces, such as Emergency Units, Water Front Searching Unit, Railway Police Unit, Hawker Squad, and Village Penetration Patrols in the New Territories.
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