Letters | Coronavirus offers Hong Kong police a chance to repair image: arrests in the dead of night do more damage
- The arrest of a district councillor in the small hours is not in the spirit of ethical policing
- The police have to be accountable to the public and transparent in their exercising of arrest action
In his model of policing, Peel laid out that police officers are regarded as citizens in uniform. They exercise their powers to police their fellow citizens with the implicit consent of those fellow citizens.
Thus, “policing by consent” means that any legitimacy to police in the eyes of the public is based upon a general consensus of support from that community and follows from transparency about police powers and police integrity in exercising those powers, and in their accountability for so doing.
This model is British in origin and it has been followed by many jurisdictions worldwide, including by the Hong Kong police.
As a retired Hong Kong police officer, I noted the recent arrest of Cheng Lai-king, the elected chairperson of the Central and Western District Council, with horror.