1.
Preliminary Report on the Hong Kong Police Force.
1.
A General Survey.
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(i) Having now been in command of the Hong Kong Police Force for three months I am in a position to present a preliminary report on the Force, its short comings and what is necessary to improve it.
(ii) Shortly after my arrival I gained six impressions which have remained unaltered. They are
2.
(a) The excellent material of the Force, particularly of
the European Contingent.
(b) The corruption prevalent in the Force.
e
The lackadaisical bearing of the Indian Contingent and the lack of control of the Indian Officers. The bad organisation of Superintendents duties.
e) The unintelligent manner in which the "means" has so
often been mistaken for the "end". Systems of checking intended to ensure that men carry out their duties satisfactorily have become the main object in place of the duties themselves.
(f) The inertness of the Force. There is little pride in
it. There is no Officers' Mess, no police colours, no symbols of the "soul" of the Force and nothing to distinguish it from being just another "department" of Government.
The Reorganisation of the Branches.
I propose later to submit separate reports on the various sub-branches of the Police with my recommendations for their improvement. The main defects of these branches, as I see them at present, are:-
(a) Special Branch. Lack of an "underground" system of
intelligence. Raids, arrests and questioning whenever any underground activity happens to come to the surface is the chief method of obtaining information. There are other things in the Special Branch which require attention.
(b) Detective Branch.
In a commercial city like Hong Kong there is no Commercial Crime sub-branch of the Detective Branch. An anti-corruption sub-branch might be useful. Later it may be necessary to set up a narcotics sub- branch. The corruption of detectives is notorious. This does not interfere with their catching criminals and there are reasons for it which I will record in my subsequent report on this Branch.
(c) Training School. I feel that the training curriculum
can be considerably improved and extended.
(d) Traffic Branch. The present Traffic Regulations are out of date and do not fit modern conditions. Traffic planning is not attempted. Minor traffic improvements are made as the necessity arises without any idea of co-ordinating them to a long term traffic plan for the cities of Victoria and Kowloon.
(e) Indian Contingent. This Contingent appears to have been allowed to deteriorate badly. Mr. Bidmead is now in charge of it and a slow improvement is apparent. The Senior N.0. is useless and N.C.0.s appear to have no grip.
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