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STAFF IN CONFIDENCE
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unknown to a large proportion of the Inspectorate and the rank and file and that the Force as a whole has no confidence in his desire
or ability to look after their interests. Mr Slevin has announced his intention of retiring at the end of 1978 and it is for consider- ation whether he should be persuaded to go sooner. The present] Deputy, Mr Henry, who is scheduled to succeed Mr Slevin as Commissioner, has got the confidence of the Force but if Lord Carver goes to Rhodesia as Resident Commissioner there, he will on present plans take Mr Henry with him as Commissioner of the British South Africa Police and Mr Henry will effectively be out of play for a large part of 1978. The two senior Assistant Commissioners, both of whom are under consideration to succeed Mr Henry as Deputy Commissioner, Messrs Quine and Morrin, are very efficient officers but, by the nature of their work during the last few years and also because of their personalities, have the reputation of being out of touch with the feelings of the Force as a whole.
5. Mr Henry is perhaps the only officer who has come out of the events of the last two weeks with any credit and is universally acknowledged as being the one senior officer in touch with the feelings of the Force. He is, perhaps coincidentally, one of the only two senior officers who have been drafted into the Force from outside during recent years. I suggest that the Hong Kong Police Force now clearly needs an injection of new blood at senior levels, i.e. at Assistant Commissioner level and above.
6. One of the characteristics of the Governor is his intense loyalty to his subordinates with outsiders. There is little doubt that he will defend Mr Slevin and the senior police officers in Hong Kong. However, the facts of the last two weeks must make it clear that there is a need for the strengthening of the top structure of the Hong Kong Police Force and that this can only be done by bringing people in from outside.
7.
Another of the problems is the question of localization.
The senior Chinese officer in the Force is No. 17 in the seniority list. He will be retiring in early 1978 and the next senior
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