Hong Kong police must disclose baton-use rules and respect people giving first aid

Since the police dispersal of protesters on September 28 by firing tear gas and threatening gunfire, several groups in our community have published statements denouncing the force's aggressive tactics. Médecins Inspirés, a newly formed group comprising Hong Kong doctors in the public sector that are concerned about political reform, shares their outrage.

News reports of protester clearance operations in Mong Kok and Admiralty serve to prove that certain members of the police force were excessively belligerent. The use of batons to hit the head and neck regions of peaceful protesters and passers-by is unacceptable. We are extremely concerned with this indiscriminate, violent and potentially lethal behaviour.

The former editor of the Hong Kong Economic Journal, Professor Joseph Lian Yi-zheng, commented that in North America clear comprehensive guidelines for crowd control exist. For example, police officers in San Francisco may not wield their batons above head level or use them against peaceful protesters.

Blunt traumatic head injury can lead to devastating intracranial bleeding and coma, and may be fatal.

In North America, where violence in protests is frequently encountered, baton-use protocols are accessible to the public. In stark contrast, the Hong Kong Police Force have failed to publicly disclose their baton-use regulations despite repeated requests to do so.

The Hong Kong government bears much of the responsibility for this state of affairs. By failing to address these politically charged protests, the government has unfairly "outsourced" its responsibility to the police. The government has essentially destroyed hard-earned years of public trust for what used to be "Asia's finest police force".