Sharp increase in number of false allegations against Hong Kong police officers
Watchdog said some complaints were falsified to be used as a defence during criminal trials
The police’s complaints system has been abused as a defence in court, with the number of false allegations against officers recording a sharp 43 per cent increase between 2016 and 2017, the police watchdog said on Wednesday.
The Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) revealed in its annual report that it received 1,567 new reports from the police’s complaint body between April 2016 and March 2017, compared to 1,572 reports in 2015/2016.
The council had endorsed 1,550 cases involving 2,807 allegations, with 46 per cent of them accusing officers of neglecting their duty.
Among all allegations, 73 of them were found to be fake.
Richard Yu Koon-hing, secretary general of the council, said the watchdog had noticed a trend of abuse in the complaints mechanism as many complainants filed allegations to help them during a criminal case they were involved in.
“Out of the 73 allegations which had been classified as false, there are 68 allegations which (were driven from) complainants’ criminal cases,” Yu said at a press conference. “Their allegations were resolved in court and (were later) classified as false.”