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Lawmakers Priscilla Leung Mei-fun and Lam Cheuk-ting spoke at the City Forum at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay. Photo: Handout

Law against police abuse cannot solve all problems officers face, lawmaker says

The politician leading calls for laws to criminalise abuse towards officers admits more must be done to end public hostility against police

The pro-establishment lawmaker who called for the enactment of legislation to criminalise hurling abusive language at police officers has admitted that such a law will not put an end to the public hostility the force has been facing.

But Business and Professionals Alliance lawmaker Priscilla Leung Mei-fun said such legislation is still important as it should be able to at least stop some, if not all, people from insulting officers and hampering them in the execution of their duties.

“There is a very unhealthy atmosphere in where people are hostile against police officers and other public officers. It is true that (criminalising abuses) will not be able to solve this problem. It is not a problem that any one single political party can solve. It requires the whole society to think about how we can create an environment where law enforcement agents can carry out their duties with respect,” she said at the City Forum on Sunday.

Leung, who is also a barrister, made the remarks against the backdrop of the crisis the police force is facing.

Last week, 33,000 serving and former officers staged a demonstration to show support for seven officers convicted of assaulting Occupy Central activist Ken Tsang Kin-chiu. Police associations have written to Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying calling for legislation that would ban insulting acts against public officers on duty.

The saga became an international crisis after a speaker at the demonstration was filmed comparing the insults the officers had received with the Nazis’ persecution of Jews during the second world war. The Israeli consulate in Hong Kong criticised that the reference was “inappropriate and regretful”, while the German consulate said it was “utterly inappropriate”.

Democratic Party’s lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting, formerly an investigator with the Independent Commission Against Corruption, said the law as proposed by Priscilla Leung would worsen the relations between the police and the public. Other human rights advocates have expressed concern that it would give the force more power to abuse.

“When I was working at the ICAC, I was insulted a lot too. But I needed to stay professional. I told myself that when people were insulting me, they were in fact humiliating themselves,” Lam said, adding that the police should have the ability to deal with pressure.

“If anyone thinks that they would not be suitable to become police officers because they see how the force is humiliated all the time, then yes, they are not suitable to become officers.”

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Law against police abuse cannot solve all problems
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