Lan Kwai Fong: radical rethink

A POLICE internal report on the Lan Kwai Fong disaster has led to a radical rethink on how the force handles crowd control at major events.

The report, released exclusively to the Sunday Morning Post, concedes inadequate police safety procedures led to the disaster and reveals, for the first time, details of the new crowd control measures presently on trial in the territory.

Officers researching the initiatives consulted experts in Canada, Australia and Britain - including those who dealt with the Hillsborough disaster - in an attempt to avoid a repeat of the 1992 New Year's horror in which 21 revellers were crushed to death.

Chief Superintendent Eric Lockyear said that prior to the tragedy, there had not appeared to be a need for a heavily regimented approach to crowd control.

''In the past the police had always adopted a hands-off policy. At gatherings we would stand back because the public knew how to behave sensibly and responsibly, being used to the crowded life Hong Kong has to offer,'' Mr Lockyear said.

''Take the demonstration over Tiananmen Square [in 1989]; up to one million people marched along the Queensway to Happy Valley and there was not a single arrest. Demonstrators took a very responsible attitude in what was a very emotional situation.

''At the time [of the tragedy] we felt it unnecessary to implement a regimented system at big events, we did not want to over-constrain the public.