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POL
THE ROYAL HONG KONG POLICE FORCE
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We were all extremely concerned at the state
of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force following the events
of last October/November.
Though general resentment
at ICAC operations, and the fear of a group of
prosecution for past offences, were the immediate
cause, there was obviously more to it than that.
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At my request the Home Office made available a
most experienced team led by Mr Crane, one of H M Inspectors of Constabulary, and a thorough investigation of the organisation and administration of Police
followed conducted jointly with the Commissioner and his staff and the Security Branch of the Central
Government Secretariat. In broad terms the conclusion
was that professionally the Force was working on the
right lines; but that intense preoccupation with the fight against crime and the rapid expansion, redeployment and reorganisation of the Force in recent years to combat
crime, has had a double-edged effect. Success against
crime, and in achieving an improved relationship with the
public, has been remarkable. But it has been to some
extent at the expense of administration, man-management, personnel relations and welfare, which had implications
for discipline and control.
Simultaneously subjected to the
twin pressures of combatting a crime wave and the weeding
out of corruption, the Force, with the knowledge of
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hindsight, was somewhat/ under-administered.