Police attack 'negative' agenda

Senior police officers have blamed the Government's 'negative' policies for a rise in crime and falling detection rates and called for a restructuring of frontline police teams.

They say more officers should be kept in frontline posts and analysts should be appointed to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to tackle increasingly sophisticated crimes. They also called for a temporary halt to the introduction of 'too many new ideas' by the Government and strong action against under-performing officers.

The proposals emerged at a special meeting called between the force's senior management and Senior Assistant Commissioner, Dick Lee Ming-kwai, to address growing concern among police officers over low morale and inflexibility in deploying staff. Minutes of the meeting highlight the extent of the concern among senior police officers.

Crime rose by 6.7 per cent last year, while the detection rate fell to 42.5 per cent from 51.4 per cent in 1997. The overall crime rate rose 10 per cent in the first two months of this year compared with the same period in 1999.

At the meeting, it was claimed that police officers from the uniform branch and CID were less inclined to work overtime following a cut in allowances - a policy brought about by the Government's Enhanced Productivity Programme. Uncertainty generated from inside and outside the force had contributed to officers' low morale, according to the record of the meeting.

It also blamed a 'long list of negative initiatives'; including civil service reforms, the Enhanced Productivity Programme, no allowances for acting in other positions, and sports activities to be carried out in officers' own time. It said they had bred a culture of avoiding blame rather than one of seeking credit within the force.

Police officers had 'lost the ability to stick together on and off duty' because they wanted to avoid accusations that they were ganging up in 'small circles'. Under the new policies, there had been too much emphasis on management initiatives instead of policing, the top officers said. There were 'too many meetings and too much paperwork'.

'New inspectors see themselves as managers not 'hands-on commanders', they take an academic approach to manage and supervise. New policy directives from police headquarters create additional responsibilities for divisional commanders without considering their already heavy workload,' they said.

Among a number of solutions recommended to Mr Lee, Director of Operations who requested the meeting be a 'frank discussion' on problems, senior officers proposed an overhaul in appointing frontline officers to the CID, whose share of responsibility in detected cases was only three per cent.

'The majority of arrests are made by uniform branch officers. Improvement in this area will have a positive impact on detection rate,' the officers suggested. Spare training should be used to raise practical skills of uniform branch officers to allow flexibility of deployment between the branch and CID.

Kowloon West Deputy Regional Commander, Chief Superintendent Ian Seabourne, who took part in the meeting, refused to comment on any details about the discussions saying they were highly confidential. 'I'll just wait and see, a lot of people are discussing . . . we'll just have to wait and see the outcome,' he said.

Mr Lee was not available for comment yesterday. A police spokesman said they had not yet been briefed by him on the meeting. Senior management has observed a general inability of CID officers in detecting modern crimes and suggested crime analysts be appointed to research crime patterns. Difficult-to-detect cases such as credit card fraud, gold trading scams and mobile phone-related offences are increasing. Service providers of credit cards or mobile phones often require their clients to report to police before disputes can be dealt with.

Officers at the meeting said culprits were becoming more sophisticated and aware of their rights. They said the current policy of 100 per cent beat coverage could lead to a waste of resources and there should be more flexibility in redeploying manpower.

Management also urged Commissioner of Police, Eddie Hui Ki-on, and regional commanders 'to take a personal interest in good work done at the frontline'.