CONFIDENTIAL
STAFF IN CONFIDENCE
(w 65)
BRIEF B
THE HONG KONG POLICE FORCE: STRENGTHENING OF THE STRUCTURE
1.
See separate brief for details of the recent events during which the Governor was forced to declare an amnesty for all corruption
offences committed before 1 January 1977.
2. For at least a year we have been drawing to the attention of the Governor and the Commissioner of Police our opinion that there was and is a serious lack of communication between the top management of the Force and those below. The Overseas Police Adviser (OPA) conducted an inspection of the Force in December 1976 and formally stated his opinion that there existed a serious morale problem, exacerbated by this lack of communication between the Commissioner and his subordinates. I have myself discussed the same phenomenon and asked for assessments of the state of morale. The Commissioner and other senior officers rejected that part of the OPA's report on morale and have consistently told me that in
The their opinion there was no real morale problem in the Force. events of the last two weeks have clearly indicated that they were not in touch with the climate of opinion inside the Police Force.
3. The Governor has now accepted that the low morale demonstrated during the events of the last two weeks is at least, in part, due to this communications problem and has suggested that a senior Police officer should be appointed as a Special Adviser for a period of one year. We agree with the desirability of the appoint- ment of such an Adviser but also believe that the appointment of an Adviser only represents a partial attempt to cure what is a fundamental problem. We further believe that the malaise in the Hong Kong Police can only be cured by some restructuring of the
top management.
4.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr Slevin, although a very good planner, is clearly in part responsible for the sickness which has attacked the Force. It has been said time and time again that Mr Slevin is the "invisible Commissioner", that is completely
CONFIDENTIAL
STAFF IN CONFIDENCE