Police handling of Yuen Long attacks the main source of Hongkongers’ complaints against force since anti-government protests began
- Independent Police Complaints Council says it received 822 complaints pertaining to public order events related to now-withdrawn fugitive bill
- Force says most complaints concerned jammed emergency hotline on night of July 21 attacks
The police’s failure in dealing with the violent attacks at Yuen Long MTR station drew the largest number of complaints against the force since the anti-government protests began in June, its watchdog said on Tuesday.
But most of the complaints pertained to being unable to reach the emergency services hotline on July 21, when it was jammed by 24,000 calls in the space of three hours.
At an open meeting hosted on Tuesday afternoon by police and the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC), the watchdog revealed that as of Monday, the force’s Complaints Against Police Office (CAPO) had received 623 complaint cases, involving 822 allegations, from 2,823 people stemming from public order events related to the fugitive bill, which has since been withdrawn.
Around two-thirds of the complaints were about alleged police misconduct and neglect of duty.
The IPCC’s chairman, senior lawyer Anthony Neoh SC, said 71 of the allegations were related to the Yuen Long attack on the late night of July 21. There were also a total of 57 allegations against the police’s actions on June 12, when protesters besieged government headquarters and the legislature to prevent lawmakers from discussing the fugitive bill.
