Letters | Hong Kong police parade needs an update
- Displays featuring traditional rifles with fixed bayonets and swords are fit for a colonial police force intent on subduing the population, not a civil police force whose top responsibility is to protect citizens
A parade by any disciplined force is a chance to show its discipline, equipment and values. However, the police paraded with the traditional assault rifles and fixed bayonets, commissioned officers with swords.
This display is entirely appropriate for a colonial police force intent on securing an empire by subduing the population, by lethal force if necessary. It is not appropriate for a civil police force whose greatest responsibility is to protect citizens, and it is a waste of time and public money to buy and maintain large quantities of equipment for purely ceremonial purposes.
A disciplined force should parade using the equipment it normally uses. This helps educate people about its capabilities and role. Firefighters wear some of their protective equipment, dog handlers march with their dogs and so on. Only specialist firearms units should parade with assault rifles – without bayonets, of course.