BRIEF NOTES FOR THE MEETING BETWEEN LORD GORONWY-ROBERTS AND MR CRANE
ROYAL HONG KONG POLICE FORCE (RHKPF)
AND THE INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION (ICAC)
of
1. By 1977 the ICAC had succeeded in destroying large-scale syndicated corruption in the RHKPF. As a result, a large number of officers were suspended from duty on full pay. These officers formed the hard core leaders of a revolt against the activities of ICAC last Autumn. They gained widespread support because a substantial proportion of the Force feared prosecution for petty acts of corruption committed in a previous era. After protest marches, an attack on the Headquarters of ICAC and the develop-
ment of a state of near mutiny in the RHKPF, the Governor announced an amnesty for many who had been involved in corruption before 1 January 1977. He excepted a number of categories, in particular those who were already under investigation and those whose crimes were particularly "heinous". This move tended to split the Force into a moderate majority and an extremist minority: most of the latter being those excluded from the limited amnesty. The establishment of both the Junior Police Officers' Association (JPOA) and a committee to look into the activities of ICAC itself has further improved the chances of a peaceful resolution of the problem. However, the residual question of corruption remains: it is vital that ICAC should continue to act, and to be seen to act, vigorously and effectively.
The Junior Police Force Association (JPOA)
2.
One of the complaints made by the malcontents before the November amnesty was that they had no formal channels through which to air their grievances. This seems to have been a genuine complaint and the Hong Kong Government hopes that the establishment
The of the JPOA will help to avoid conflicts in the future. JPOA has until now been dominated by a self-appointed committee consisting largely of officers under interdiction, but the
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