Ferocity of abuse from Occupy protesters startling, police veteran says
Policeman David Jordan says protests are unlike anything he has experienced in 22 years in city
An expatriate police officer working on the front line of Occupy Central says he has never before encountered such a level of verbal abuse - including racial abuse - in 22 years of policing Hong Kong protests.
While images of police using tear gas and pepper spray have dominated international coverage, Senior Superintendent David Jordan told a different story.
"Both the ferocity and the volume of the abuse has been quite startling, actually," said Jordan, who has served as an operational commander in Admiralty.
His duties have included overseeing areas such as Lung Wo Road, outside the chief executive's office, the site of several clashes.
"I've experienced abuse unlike I've ever had in over 20 years," with insults in both Cantonese and English, Jordan, 47, said in an interview arranged by the police public relations bureau. "When we were clearing the road, the volume of abuse and almost unadulterated hatred was quite surprising when police officers are basically just carrying out their constabulary duties.
"I'm relatively thick-skinned, but what I get as a frontline commander is nothing like what frontline officers get … I just accept it and get on with it. Our endgame is to maintain public order."
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