Officers must declare if relatives become involved in leisure businesses Police officers must declare if their spouses or dependants become involved in the entertainment business, a senior police officer revealed yesterday. The measure was introduced last year following the ICAC arrest two years ago of Kowloon City Senior Inspector Ng Po-on and his wife, Lam Chuen-ip, who operated karaoke lounges and nightclubs in Tsim Sha Tsui. The same Independent Commission Against Corruption operation also led to the arrest and eventual conviction of senior superintendent Sin Kam-wah, of the Narcotics Bureau, for misconduct in public office involving accepting free sexual services from prostitutes. Lam was convicted of inducing other women to engage in prostitution and offering an advantage to a government servant. Sin, 46, and Lam, 43, were each jailed for three years. Both have appealed against their conviction and sentence, and the Court of Appeal reserved judgment of their cases on Monday. Senior Inspector Ng was acquitted of a charge of failing to disclose his living expenses to the ICAC but remains suspended from duty and may face disciplinary action. Assistant Police Commissioner Thomas Chan Wai-ki told the Legislative Council's security panel about the new requirement. He said officers who made such a declaration would be 'labelled'. That would remind commanders to check the officers' backgrounds before changing their posts, to avoid the potential for a conflict of interest. Mr Chan said it had been difficult to devise a declaration that covered all possible situations. 'A commander would have to make a professional judgment [on the deployment of an officer],' he said. Security officials also told the Legco panel that seven police officers and two other members of other disciplined services had been denied promotion as a result of information that came to light during integrity checks. Legislators demanded more information about these checks, most of which are conducted by the police and the ICAC. They said they were surprised to learn that the system no longer involved a simple ruling that the subject of a check had either passed or failed, as had been the case previously. But Deputy Secretary for Security Cheung Siu-hing said while integrity checks were a means of assessing risk, they were not the only factor considered by department chiefs in determining appointments and promotions. Legislator Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee said she could not accept a system that allowed department chiefs to have a final say on promotions even if the candidate's integrity check produced a bad result. Ms Cheung said she noted the concerns and would follow them up with the Civil Service Bureau.