A new headquarters building is planned
and the Police Training School has been almost entirely rebuilt.
Uniform Branch
This will be the immediate concern of the new officer. The man on the beat is the key factor in maintaining law and order. In Hong Kong his beat may include sophisticated tourist areas, overcrowded tenement districts or squatter settlements. Whichever it is, his influence is considerable.
A uniform branch Inspector's duties are varied. He may supervise beat patrols or act as a Duty Officer in the Report Room, initiat- ing action on all reports made at the Station.
He may be posted to an Emergency Unit- each district has its own, whose radio- equipped vehicles patrol the Colony and are usually the first at the scene of robberies, fires, civil disturbances or natural disasters. These units also conduct foot patrols in selected areas. Members of the Rank and File of these Units in Hong Kong and Kowloon are Chinese, but the Emergency Unit in the New Territories is manned by Pakistanis and Chinese.
On normal patrol, an Inspector may be required not only to supervise beat work but also to check licensed premises or control crowds at football matches and other major functions. He may have to supervise the evacuation of a dangerous building or take charge at the scene of a fire or accident. He must always be prepared for the unexpected. His life is certainly hard, often difficult, occasionally dangerous, but seldom boring.
An Inspector may also have to work in plain clothes keeping observation on and taking part in raids on all kinds of undesirable premises.
Not the least of his duties is that of man management. He may be responsible for the discipline and welfare of many men and the efficiency of those under his command rests squarely on his shoulders. He must learn that an efficient unit is also a happy unit. He will be in command of men who are consider- ably older than himself and he must earn
14
The station desk is always bustling with activity. Below, the annual Police Force Review.
their respect by his own actions.
An Inspector may also be asked to train Rank and File in subjects ranging from riot control to the use of fire arms.
Because of the number of visitors and temporary residents in Hong Kong, a large part of the population is not naturally inclined to be public spirited. This makes it vitally important that the Inspector shows by his conduct and attitude to work that the Police Officer is an essential feature of the life of such a crowded city and he must earn the respect and co-operation of the public to achieve his purpose.
In the rural New Territories the task of the Uniform Branch is similar. Stations are usually smailer and may have only a single Inspector as the officer in charge. In the new towns, which are rapidly expanding as more and more factories are built, there are beat duties. There are mobile patrols, too, but much of the New Territories is inacces- sible to vehicles and remote communities are visited by Village Penetration Patrols which go out for two or three days at a time, sleeping and feeding in the villages they visit.