Unsung heroes of a safe city
4 February 2018
Last week, our colleagues in the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau (EOD) of the Hong Kong Police Force were called out twice and carried out unprecedented operations in which two wartime bombs, weighing 1 000 pounds each, were defused in the space of five days. The AN-M65 bombs, used by the United States forces during the Second World War, were found separately over a couple of days on a construction site of the Shatin to Central Link in Wan Chai.
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I visited the EOD last Friday to express my gratitude to the frontline bomb disposal officers and listened to their accounts of the risks and difficulties of the operations.
The explosives unearthed were powerful and could cause mass destruction if detonated. The task of disarming them was dangerous and arduous, and no mistake was allowed in the process. The EOD staff worked overnight in the cold and safely defused the two devices under unstable weather conditions in 26 and 24 hours respectively. Thanks to the professionalism of the police force and the co-operation of the community, we successfully resolved the crises that occurred in the city centre, with no casualties caused.
Yesterday I attended a passing-out parade at the Hong Kong Police College which saw 273 newly graduated police officers take their first strides to start a career in maintaining law and order and serving the public.
Our police force, a top-notch professional team taking responsibility to combat crime and protect life and property, has safeguarded the stable development of Hong Kong and made it a safe place in which to live and work. Hong Kong has long enjoyed a reputation as one of the safest cities in the world. This is largely attributable to the efforts and contribution of the police.
Good proof of that can be found in the Rule of Law Index 2017 released by the World Justice Project last Wednesday, in which Hong Kong ranked the fourth out of 113 countries and regions worldwide in “Order and Security”.
In 2017, the overall crime figure recorded in Hong Kong was 56 017 cases, representing a decrease of 7.6% over 2016 and a 42-year low since 1975. The overall crime rate was 758 cases per 100 000 population, representing a decrease of 8.3% over 2016 and a 46-year low since 1971. Homicides in the territory have substantially reduced in the two decades after our return to the Motherland, from 102 cases in 1997 to 24 cases in 2017. Compared with the latest international figures in 2016, ours might just be less than half of those of some major European or American cities, and even one-tenth of those of certain cities. The number of robbery cases has also dropped from 2 993 in 1997 to 163 in 2017 during the corresponding period, representing a decrease from over eight cases a day to less than one case every two days on average. All these achievements are built on the hard work of a 30 000-strong police force dedicated to reinforcing Hong Kong’s position as the safest city.
Our police recruitment exercises attract a huge turnout of aspiring young candidates every year, and the number of applicants has kept rising. The Police Recruitment Day (Winter) on 6 January this year received an overwhelming response with more than 2 300 applications, the second highest record for this recurrent winter recruitment campaign. The competition was keen, with an average of 40 applicants competing for a Probationary Inspector vacancy and ten applicants competing for a Recruit Police Constable vacancy.
In the past three years, more than 6 000 applications for Probationary Inspector and more than 10 000 for Recruit Police Constable were received on average each year. Many graduates of premier local and overseas tertiary institutions and some candidates of non-Chinese ethnicity were among the applicants. Over 90% of Inspector applicants possessed a qualification of university level or above, and over 40% of Police Constable applicants had a higher education qualification. The professional or academic disciplines of the qualifications were diverse, including law studies, international business administration, journalism and criminology.
Moreover, all Probationary Inspectors recruited through open recruitment in the past three years possessed a qualification of university level or above, with about 10% holding a Master’s degree. About 20% of newly recruited Police Constables had a qualification of university level or above.
The SAR Government attaches great importance to the continuous training of serving police officers. In this regard, the Hong Kong Police College is committed to providing training to develop officers into police professionals with the highest ability and integrity to meet the needs and challenges posed by the drastic social changes.
As early as 2010, the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) became the first government department to run Qualifications Framework (QF) accredited courses. The HKPF recorded another first in the Government in 2014 when the department, as neither a tertiary institution nor a professional institution, started to offer courses at QF Levels 4 and 5. Currently, the HKPF operates 11 QF accredited courses. Among them is the International Executive Development in Policing Programme co-organised with the Canadian Police College for police managers in Hong Kong and Canada. Accredited to QF Level 6, which is equivalent to Master degree level, the programme has set a new milestone for the Hong Kong Police College.
As a result of social development and the Government’s efforts in promoting gender equality, women’s status in the police force has been constantly enhanced. Now there is equal pay for equal work irrespective of sex. All newly-recruited policewomen have been allowed to carry firearms while on duty and women officers may also join the Police Tactical Unit.
There are currently around 4 900 female police officers, accounting approximately for 16.7% of the total number of disciplinary staff in the force. This is 7.2% higher than the rate in 1990 (9.5%), and has rendered Hong Kong one of the major cities having the highest percentage of women officers in the police service in the world.
The percentage of female officers in Inspector ranks has increased from 13% in 1990 to 30.2% in 2017, while the percentage for Superintendent ranks has increased from 2.8% to 22.3% for the same period. Last year, Ms Winnie CHIU Wai-yin has become the first female Deputy Commissioner of Police and also the highest ranking female police officer ever since the establishment of the police force in 1844, showing that women are just as capable as men.
It is undeniable that in order to keep our city safe, we cannot depend solely on the police force. Other disciplinary services that have been serving the community with utmost professionalism, diligence and dedication are also indispensable. Therefore, the SAR Government has been supporting their work in every aspect. Recruitment and training exercises are conducted regularly for these disciplinary services to fill vacancies, replenish natural wastage and cope with the manpower demand.
The Immigration Department (ImmD) received over 10 000 applications in this year’s open recruitment for Immigration Officers. The response was overwhelming. It is expected that the ImmD will employ about 1 000 people to meet its manpower requirement in 2017-18.
As to the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED), the annual recruitment exercise for Customs Officers was launched smoothly last October and met with good response. As at the end of January 2018, over 10 000 applications were received. A new round of recruitment for Inspectors of Customs and Excise is underway and seeing satisfactory response. It is expected that the C&ED will also employ about 1 000 people this year.
Apart from the HKPF, ImmD and C&ED, other disciplinary services including the Fire Services Department, the Correctional Services Department and the Government Flying Service are also serving the public with dedication in their assigned capacities.
Our reputation as a safe city has not come easy. We owe it to the excellent service rendered by over 60 000 members of the disciplinary forces. For this safe city, they are all unsung heroes who, with loyal and selfless devotion, give their best to serve the public and work quietly and diligently for the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong. They deserve our praise.
