As an auxiliary police officer I have been disturbed to read reports in the Chinese press about regular officers. According to these stories, some officers on the beat are taking unacceptably long breaks. After four hours on duty they are only entitled to a rest of 15 minutes. Obviously this kind of misconduct is not meeting the expectations of the general public. With only one or two officers on a beat during a shift, if some of them take long breaks, they are not addressing their prime role which is crime prevention. This puts citizens in that area at risk. Officers should be devoted to crime prevention. I am concerned that policing may be inadequate in Hong Kong during breakfast, lunch and dinner breaks and that criminals might take advantage of this. It is important that officers are deployed in an efficient manner so we can be of more use to society. Y. C. CHOI Mid-Levels
