CONFIDENTIAL AND PERSONAL
Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1
Noter A
52
BU 10/6
Telephone 01-
2915
His Excellency
Sir Murray MacLehose KCMG MBE HONG KONG
Your reference
Our reference
Date
28 May 1974
Dear Thurray,
POLICE RECRUITMENTS FROM THE UK
1.
MEAT
REF.
I have meddled, I hope without disaster, in exchanges which your Departments have been having with the police authorities in the UK about recruitments for the Hong Kong police and for the Anti-Corruption Commission.
2.
Alan Scott wrote to Sir Arthur Peterson on 7 May about the appointment of a Director of Criminal Investigation. He copied this letter to me and to Sir Robert Mark. The gist of the letter was that Sir Robert Mark had suggested Detective Chief Superintendent Howell for the post but that you felt that the job needed somebody of Commander rank. Alan's purpose was therefore to ask Sir Arthur whether other police forces in the UK might be approached.
3.
This was the first that I had heard about the appointment, though Chief Superintendent Howell, who is coincidentally, and very enthusiastically, looking after the proceedings for the return of Mr Godber, had told me privately that he was in the running for a job in Hong Kong, and asked me what I thought were his chances of success.
At the same time I had received from Prendergast (your telno. 533) a request for 17 experienced police officers to work with the Commission Against Corruption.
4.
5.
•
I knew that Sir Robert Mark had been rather taken aback by the rejection by Slevin, Prendergast and Macoun of his original suggestion of a retired police officer to work with the Commission. I was a bit apprehensive that the rejection of Howell, coupled with the request for such a large number of other officers for Hong Kong, might disincline him to be helpful in the future. I therefore wrote him a personal note to explain the background.
6.
In reply Sir Robert has written to me to say that while he himself suggested that other candidates for the post of Director of Criminal Investigation might be forthcoming from the provinces, his own view still was that Detective Chief Superintendent Howell would be the best candidate for the post. He added, for my strictly personal information, that in the event of Howell's selection, he would be prepared to promote him to the rank of Commander before he left the Metropolitan Police on secondment to Hong Kong. He regarded him as being certain to attain that rank in the event of his continued service in the Metropolitan Police, and he said he would have no objection to my letting you know this in confidence if I wished to do so.
་ ་ཧེན་
CONFIDENTIAL AND PERSONAL
སྦེ་ རྣམན་
17.