The men and women of the Hong Kong Police Force have been holding the line against often-rampant mob violence inflicted on this great city by masked black-clad thugs purportedly in the name of “freedom” and “democracy”. An initially largely peaceful protest movement found itself hijacked by hard-core radicals, many of whom are willing to use violence and intimidation to achieve their aims.
With an administration taken by surprise and slow to react, the police have been the bulwark that has stood up against violent protesters, thereby making the force the prime target for the radicals and their supporters. They go to great lengths to spread false and malicious information in their efforts to discredit and demonize the force, and attempt to blacken its hard-won reputation for professionalism, discipline and integrity. Regrettably, in this age when many obtain their information from sound bites and edited video clips on social media, and with some shockingly biased reporting by some media outlets, the force’s image has suffered. This is an opportune moment to take a look at some of the more widely circulated falsehoods that have gained traction with certain sections of society.
Our officers have been doing their very best to restore order to our streets and bring offenders to justice, in good faith, without fear or favor. With 175 years of proud history behind us, the force will always do the right thing for Hong Kong and its citizens
The first is that people have died as a direct result of police action during the last seven months of violent protests, with allegations that many “unexplained deaths” are the work of police. Such accusations have been proved to be utterly false. Not one person has lost their life due to actions taken by the Hong Kong police, a remarkable fact when one considers the ferocity of much of the rioting and violent nature of the attacks on officers. All deaths in Hong Kong are scrutinized by the Coroner’s Office, and if there are any doubts as to the cause of death, an autopsy will be performed. If the coroner so directs, police will conduct a detailed investigation of the death, and the findings will be examined by the coroner, who may order a death inquest to be held. The coroner is a judicial officer who is entirely independent of the police, and any suggestions that the police have somehow “covered up” deaths of protesters is impossible and quite frankly absurd.
The wild rumor that deaths occurred at the Prince Edward MTR station on the night of Aug 31 when police took action to arrest violent protesters, despite being shown to be absolutely false, is still quoted by some as being true. With all injured people accounted for, and despite no relatives of the alleged “deceased people” ever coming forward, some still maintain this irrational belief. Some of the actions of the blackshirt movement in this regard have been deeply offensive. The tragic death of 15-year-old Chan Yin-lam in September, whose body was found in the sea off Tseung Kwan O, was cruelly exploited by many, who refused to believe her death was not suspicious. This is despite pleas from her anguished mother, who confirmed that her daughter committed suicide, to leave the grieving family alone.
Similarly, the death of student Chow Tsz-lok, who fell from a parking garage in Tseung Kwan O in the early hours of Nov 4, has been the subject of numerous baseless claims and wild rumors. The facts are that a group of protesters were in the area the previous evening intent on disrupting the wedding party of a police officer. Rightly prevented from doing so, they resorted to their usual behavior and started blocking roads, starting fires, digging up bricks and confronting police. Video surveillance footage conclusively shows Chow was alone in the parking garage just before his death, and that police, who had been subject to barrages of projectiles from the mob earlier that night, had nothing to do with his unfortunate fall.
Readers may also recall the female who suffered an injury to her right eye during violent protests outside the Tsim Sha Tsui police station in Kowloon on Aug 11. Rioters besieged the police station, throwing bricks and other projectiles, starting fires and firing powerful slingshots. Officers eventually dispersed the mob with lawful force, using tear gas and other nonlethal weapons. Claiming the injury had been caused by a police “beanbag” round, the female was held up by the protesters as a victim of “police brutality”. However, it is apparent that her injury was likely inflicted by a slingshot fired by a rioter, and her determined efforts to prevent any investigation into how it was sustained back this up. Her trying to prevent the police from obtaining her medical records raises the obvious question — what is she trying to hide?
Lurid claims that some female detainees were sexually assaulted by police officers have been debunked for what they are — nonsensical allegations without any basis whatsoever. Similar farfetched claims that detainees were systematically assaulted at the San Uk Ling detention center in the New Territories were also made. None of the people held in custody at the facility, used only on a limited number of days during periods of severe rioting, made any complaints of being injured during their detention. Ten people reported injuries on arrival — hardly surprising given the violent nature of the rioting — while others requested medical treatment for various illnesses, a common practice among persons detained by police. Only three complaints against police have been made regarding detention at San Uk Ling, and two of these were filed by people who were not even detained there.
Seldom can a police force have been subject to such a sustained campaign of misinformation, smears and downright lies as the Hong Kong Police Force has during the last seven months. I am not pretending for a moment that the force has been perfect and that mistakes have not been made; police officers are human, after all, and subject to the same emotions as others. However, our officers have been doing their very best to restore order to our streets and bring offenders to justice, in good faith, without fear or favor. With 175 years of proud history behind us, the force will always do the right thing for Hong Kong and its citizens.
The author is a chief inspector of police working in Kowloon.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
