'were Cantonese, i.e. Chinese belonging to Hong Kong or coming from the Chinese Province of Kwangtung. A contingent of rather less than 300 men from Shantung recruited because of their superior physique is maintained. The Indian Con- tingent, which before the war numbered 800, is in process of reformation on a more limited scale and up to the end of the year 62 members of the contingent had returned from India where a special Indian Officer of the Hong Kong Government has been employed for the past year in contacting them and making arrangements for their return. There is also an Emergency Unit of 78 men.
The Force is commanded by a Commissioner who is assisted by two Deputy Commissioners and 24 Superintendents and Assistant Superintendents. There is an Inspectorate of 296 of whom 104 are local officers and the remainder Europeans. The Island of Hong Kong is under the direct command of a Senior Superintendent, known as the Commanding Officer Hong Kong, who is assisted by three Assistant Superintendents each in charge of a division of the Island. Similarly, Kowloon and the New Territories come under the control of a Commanding Officer of similar rank who is assisted by 4 Assistant Superin- tendents, each in charge of a division of the mainland. The Water Police is under the control of an Assistant Superinten- dent. Other branches of the Force include the Special Branch which is under the control of a Senior Superintendent; the Criminal Investigation Branch and the Anti-Corruption Branch.
Policing of the New Territories.
At the beginning of 1947, the Police Force had only in part-though it was the greater part-resumed their pre-war responsibilities, but on the 1st April, policing of the New Territories, which until then had remained in the hands of the 3rd Commando Brigade, was taken over by the Police and the complete policing of the Colony thus returned to the civil authorities.
Material Difficulties.
Apart from the difficulty of creating afresh a Police Force of reliable and trustworthy personnel, one of the main difficul- ties which has been experienced by the Commissioner and his officers in discharging their functions of maintaining law and order has been the procurement of suitable buildings for use as Police Stations. Of the 41 stations in existence before the war, 22 were completely razed during hostilities and the other 19 were damaged, many of them seriously. Even to-day, none of those which were completely destroyed has been rebuilt but many of the damaged stations have been, to a greater or lesser extent, rehabilitated. Other stations
stations have
have been
been sited in requisitioned premises, or, in some of the more remote localities, in temporary hutments. Many of the requisitioned buildings are not unnaturally quite unsuitable as Police Stations and
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