bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Ella Lee

Stella Lee

But junior staff say senior colleagues get better treatment in disciplinary hearings

The police force has drafted a code of conduct to remind officers of the standards of behaviour expected of them, both on and off duty.

The draft code - revealed a day after Senior Superintendent Sin Kam-wah was jailed for three years for accepting free sex services - includes a reminder to avoid undesirable association.

But frontline officers said that it fails to address the problem of senior officers being subjected to more relaxed rules in disciplinary proceedings.

The code, drafted by a subcommittee of the police anti-corruption steering committee, has been released for consultation among officers' representatives.

It will be circulated throughout the force after it is endorsed by top officers.

A member of the subcommittee, Chief Superintendent Robin Tse Shu-chun, said the  code listed fundamental guiding principles, including the need to exercise prudent financial management and to avoid undesirable association and situations in which a conflict of interest might arise.

The code also reminds officers of the need to enforce the law impartially, respect human rights and not to abuse their power.

Mr Tse said the drafting of the code had nothing to do with Sin's case, but was part of the effort to reinforce the force's core values, including honesty and integrity.

He said similar rules on the expected standard of officers' behaviour were listed in the existing Police General Orders.

But the chairman of the Local Inspectors' Association, Tony Liu Kit-ming, said that while the Police General Orders applied equally to all officers in theory, there was a disparity in how the orders were applied to the junior and senior ranks.

Mr Liu said officers of the rank of chief inspector or below were charged under the Police (Discipline) Regulations if they breached the general orders.

He said that at the disciplinary hearing, these officers have to choose a fellow officer to defend them, one who is not more senior than the adjudicating officer.

However, officers of the rank of superintendent or above who broke the general orders are charged under public service rules which allow them to be defended by any civil servant.

'A police officer has to worry about the problem of offending a superior if they defend colleagues in an internal hearing. But there is no such worry if the person who defends an officer is not from the force,' Mr Liu said.

He said the force should unify the disciplinary system by applying the Police (Discipline) Regulations to all officers.

The chairman of the Junior Police Officers' Association, Lau Kam-wah, agreed that the disparity in the system meant senior officers had less to worry about. 'It's not quite proper to have two sets of rules within the force,' Mr Lau said.

Mr Tse, who is also the chairman of the Superintendents' Association, said while he agreed there was room for discussion on the issue, the current system enjoyed more credibility in dealing with senior officers, since their adjudicators were independent from the police force.



Police force drafts code of conduct