EditorialIntegrity office can restore faith in Hong Kong police

The new unit will be an exercise worth its weight in gold to the force’s public image at a time when it needs it most

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Commissioner of Police Chris Tang Ping-keung is right to be “outraged” by his officers’ alleged illegal acts and the unfair and hurtful reflection they have cast on the vast majority of their colleagues. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 9:38pm, 31 May 2020Updated: 11:02pm, 31 May 2020

In some ways, May has been a month police chief Chris Tang Ping-keung would rather forget. Within the space of a few days, he expressed his anger over the stain on the force’s image after the arrests of 18 officers in connection with alleged lawbreaking, and apologised for “unsatisfactory” and “unprofessional” handling of reporters by police during a protest in Mong Kok on Mother’s day.

As anti-government protests regathered momentum after the break enforced by Covid-19, it was not a good start for the police in winning public confidence. Tang moved to repair the force’s image through discussions with media associations about facilitating journalists’ work, and by announcing an integrity audit office to monitor and supervise staff conduct.

The arrests must have been particularly galling, coming at a time when the force needed to restore confidence undermined by allegations of brutality during last year’s protest clashes. They included nine in connection with operations against street sleepers, with allegations of lying about finding drugs, and four linked to a missing haul of crystal meth valued at HK$12 million.

Tang said the new integrity audit office, to be headed by an assistant commissioner, would investigate disciplinary breaches and illegal activity by officers. This is to include financial vetting and possibly voluntary drug tests, according to Deputy Police Commissioner Oscar Kwok Yam-shu.

Tang and his senior aides need to ensure that the integrity audit office is not seen as a public relations exercise, which is how it has been characterised by one sceptical veteran officer, who said the force already had many integrity initiatives and questioned the value of another. He and other veterans identified one problem as a lack of effective monitoring and supervision of junior officers by a generation of inspectors that had become too distant from its subordinates.

Mentoring of lower disciplined ranks is a time-honoured pillar of integrity. Restoring respect for it could be a good start for the new integrity audit office. Tang is right to be “outraged” by his officers’ alleged illegal acts and the unfair and hurtful reflection they have cast on the vast majority of their colleagues. If the new office can reinforce integrity, it will be an exercise worth its weight in gold to the force’s public image at a time when it needs it most.

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} The new unit will be an exercise worth its weight in gold to the force’s public image at a time when it needs it most

The new unit will be an exercise worth its weight in gold to the force’s public image at a time when it needs it most