PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL
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His Excellency
Sir Murray MacLehose KCMG MBE Governor and Commander-in-Chief Government House
HONG KONG,
Now to
P.A in
на
Sizzl
in my ciphered
дал
OPA/10
20 April 1977
LAST
REF.
12. NX11 382/6 (5)
(8)
REXT
RCF.
THE ROYAL HONG KONG POLICE FORCE
NICK Spe/6 ® зречь
ن الدار
1. Thank you for your letter of 30 March in which you comment on the report on my visit to the Royal Hong Kong Police Force in November/December 1976.
2.
I am conscious of the fact that my views on the impact of ICAC on police morale and effectiveness may have been disturbing but, as I said in my covering letter of 21 January, they represent personal impressions gained over a period of fifteen days in Hong Kong and the result of a very large number of contacts both within the Police and outside.
3. Let it not be thought that I would presume to criticise the "raison d'être" of ICAC- its existence and operations are vital in the campaign against corruption both within and outside the public service in Hong Kong.
4. Such criticism as I felt obliged to record was in respect of its operational methods and their effect on the morale of the honest majority in the Force.
5. I am convinced that much of the criticism I heard was due to the atmosphere of culpability by association generated by ICAC. Once an individual (police officer or otherwise) is under investi- gation by ICAC there is little doubt that the fact soon becomes public knowledge in which case, guilty or innocent, the "suspect's" career prospects are damned. This apparent lack of confidentiality in investigation must inevitably lead to injustice in individual
It has even been suggested to me by a senior police officer that there have been deliberate leaks by IUAC personnel against officers under surveillance.
6. You personally confirm that the impact of ICAC on the Force and its morale has been considerable and inevitable. This is confirmed too in the Commissioner of Police's comments on my report in which on no less than four occasions he admits that morale has been affected. My expressed concern was that these effects could be minimised by less arbitrary methods of enquiry.
PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL
17. I apologise