EditorialPolice must try to win greater public trust
- Complaints against officers may have fallen in the latest report, but more cases were upheld, and with recruitment figures reportedly down the force has to improve its image
A high-calibre police force is not only defined by crime prevention and detection; but also public trust and accountability. In Hong Kong, the latter is underpinned by a statutory mechanism for police complaints to be reviewed independently. It is important the system continues to function in an impartial and trustworthy manner.
The Independent Police Complaints Council received reports from the police complaints unit on 1,363 new cases in 2020-21. While it was a drop of 7.8 per cent year on year, the number of cases endorsed by the watchdog rose 7.5 per cent. The number of allegations also rose by 4.6 per cent, according to the council’s annual report.
Concerns were raised after police received another 1,312 complaints in the first 11 months of this year, 25 per cent up from the same period last year. While the relatively minor allegations, such as misconduct, improper manner, offensive language and neglect of duty, rose by some 40 per cent, accusations such as assault, fabrication of evidence, abuse of power and intimidation dropped by one-third to 70 per cent.
The changes were attributed to a lower base last year, during which there were fewer frontline contacts with citizens because of a raging pandemic. The overall numbers are still lower than those in the pre-Covid level, according to police.
It probably takes more time to make sense of the situation. In any case, the ugly clashes between police and protesters during the anti-extradition bill movement in 2019 were thankfully a thing of the past. But the image of the police force has yet to be fully rebuilt, as does confidence in law enforcement. Even though society is more stable than two years ago, actions taken under the controversial national security law still reopen political wounds from time to time.