I am in shock at the news that law enforcement should mutate into lawbreaking and a policeman should become a thief ('Police tighten their grip on bail money' January 8).
The disgraceful disclosure that bail money totalling HK$438,345 was embezzled in 137 cases between September 2004 and November 2005 greatly shakes the confidence of the public - even if, as a police spokeswoman reported, the crimes were committed by one constable. It proves that a police uniform does not make a person honest, as a saffron robe does not make a man a sadhu.
The fact that the case has come to light only now in the South China Morning Post, after the constable was jailed for 18 months in May, suggests a cover-up to mitigate the negative impact of the crime on the public's perception of the police.
And why is a man entrusted to uphold and enforce the law sentenced to a mere 18 months in jail for 137 cases of stealing involving nearly half a million dollars? That's only a year longer than the six-month sentence handed down recently to a domestic helper for taking three little photographs of her celebrity employee, one of which she apparently rescued from the dustbin.
Did the public prosecutor want to close the case in a hurry to avoid bad publicity and widespread media coverage?
Such betrayers of the public trust should be named and shamed. Trust is fragile, like a glass mirror. Once it cracks, the police won't be able to see their faces in it.
To restore our faith, the police commissioner and the security secretary should immediately set up a watchdog commission, along the lines of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, to watch over the activities of the police constantly to prevent such crimes. Prevention is better than cure.
