183 visits by mainland officers revealed
Figures show the extent of cross-border investigations
Mainland police entered Hong Kong 183 times in three years to carry out investigations with the blessing and co-operation of local police, according to figures that have just been released.
It took police chiefs almost two weeks to make public the figures on cross-border investigations, which reveal that between 2001 and 2003, 457 mainland officers were granted permission to come to the city to work with Hong Kong detectives on criminal investigations.
The figures have been released in the wake of a controversial Department of Justice decision - reached in September but only made public this month - not to prosecute two Guangdong officers caught in the middle of an apparent investigation in Pokfulam without permission.
They were carrying a pair of handcuffs during what was suspected to have been a stake-out.
The figures show that 205 mainland officers made 82 visits to conduct investigations with help from Hong Kong police in 2001. The following year 120 officers crossed the border on 48 visits. In 2003, there were 53 such visits involving 132 officers. The police said figures for last year were unavailable.
Lawmaker Emily Lau Wai-hing, a member of the Legislative Council's justice and legal panel, said the government should have been more forthcoming about what the 457 mainland police officers were doing in Hong Kong.
Under a 1997 agreement, police forces on either side of the border are prohibited from carrying out enforcement in the other's jurisdiction. If permission to conduct a cross-border investigation is granted, enforcement powers must be conceded to the local authorities.
The decision not to prosecute the two mainland officers has come under renewed attack, with barrister Kevin Egan suggesting they could have been charged simply for possessing the handcuffs.
Officials decided not to prosecute because they said they did not have evidence to prove intent to use the handcuffs for an unlawful purpose. But under the Public Order Ordinance, anyone convicted of possessing an offensive weapon in a public place can face up to three years in jail even if intent to use the weapon is not established.
'In this case there probably was a political factor,' Mr Egan said.
A spokesman for the Department of Justice said the men were not charged under the Public Order Ordinance because it was considered applicable only to weapons that can cause injury.
Lawmakers will question Police Commissioner Dick Lee Ming-kwai about the incident during the Legco security panel's meeting in March, according to the panel's chairman, James To Kun-sun.
