I refer to the report headlined, 'Big game tumbles stadium records' (South China Morning Post, July 27), saying that a record $500,000 was spent on hiring 1,400 police officers, most of whom were in plainclothes, 500 security guards and 180 marshals for management of the Manchester United game on July 24.
In respect of the police coverage of the match, some 196 officers were deployed for crowd management and traffic duties both inside and outside the Hong Kong Stadium. Of them, only 24 were in plainclothes who were tasked to deal with any ticket scalping outside the stadium and to provide a low-key response to incidents of unruly behaviour inside the stadium.
Hiring of police officers is only charged for officers on duty exclusively inside the stadium. For the Manchester United game, the hiring charge for 90 officers, none of whom was in plainclothes, of the total 196 deployed, was about HK$117,000. The hire is charged at a set rate depending on officers' ranks and the number of working hours.
FUNG KIN-MAN for Commissioner of Police
