The conduct of the Hong Kong Police Force is a subject of controversy during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. Tactics employed by the force have led to misconduct allegations and protesters have accused the Hong Kong government of using the police as a method to resolve a "lingering political crisis." Actions taken by the police force and the Hong Kong government have caused mixed reactions inside Hong Kong and in the general international community. Allegations against the police include excessive use of force, force against unspecific targets, and arrest without warrant. These allegations have been presented in various media both supporting and detracting from the complaints, such as through amateur video. In general, the spirit, rumors, videos, and other media shared by the public have caused a drop in support for the police force, and an Amnesty International report accused the police of using excessive force against civilians. One of the objectives of the 2019–2020 protests is establishment of an independent inquiry system into said allegations.
Although the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) – a body accused of lacking independence and being impotent – has launched investigations into alleged police misconduct in relation to the protests, some members of the public remain dissatisfied with the escalation of police violence. Protesters contend said violence is often disproportionate and have called for an independent commission of inquiry to be established. Many observers have demanded the Hong Kong government conduct a "prompt, independent, impartial investigation" on police use of force against protesters, but police unions often raise complaints about this, citing statute and stating that the IPCC is enough. Joining Hong Kong police unions in this matter is Hong Kong's chief executive, Carrie Lam, who has steadfastly resisted these calls, citing "very, very, very limited" room for manoeuvre. In September 2019, Lam established a panel of foreign experts to work with the IPCC to report on its findings, but several members resigned in November 2019, citing inadequate powers given to the body.
The IPCC published the Thematic Study by the IPCC on the Public Order Events arising from the Fugitive Offenders Bill on 2020-05-16. The report issued 52 recommendations, which target the police's operations and observations in some major incidents, including the 2019-07-21 Yuen Long incident and the 2019-06-12 police operations. According to the newsletter made by IPCC in March 2021, among the 52 recommendations, 10 of them have been completed, 4 with significant progress and 38 in progress.
More protesters have called for the force to be disbanded, citing the increasing rates of violence.
Background Once heralded as "Asia's Finest", the public approval rating of the Hong Kong Police Force fell drastically during 2019. Between 1997 and 2010, the police enjoyed net positive approval from the mid-50 to mid-70 percent levels. It reached an all-time low as a result of its actions during the Umbrella Revolution, a similar movement that took place in 2014.
According to Hong Kong historian Jason Wordie, since the handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China, loyalty and political reliability at all levels of the governing apparatus have been valued greatly by the Chinese government. In the case of the HKPF, the regime explicitly prioritises ethical "flexibility" and loyalty to directives, as well as obedience to orders.
Alleged police brutality has played a significant role in fuelling public anger and driving the protests; the position of both sides became more entrenched as the protests progressed. Hongkongers' initial shock at the usage of tear gas by the police and their use of batons contributed to 2 million people rallying on 16 June. Since then, water cannons laced with blue dye and other skin irritants, projectiles such as beanbags, rubber and sponge-tipped bullets, pepper spray; baton charges and mass arrests, common riot control tactics, have seen increased use. In the six months since the protests began, police have fired 16,000 rounds of tear gas, 10,000 rubber bullets, and some 2,000 rounds of bean bags and 2,000 rounds of sponge bullets. Suspected triads have also attacked demonstrators, with allegedly little or no apparent reaction from the police force, which fuelled a rumor of criminal collusion. Armed with rudimentary protection and facing-off against well-armed police, protesters have thrown rocks, bricks, and Molotov cocktails; used poles, street barricades and slingshots for fighting; vandalised businesses symbolising oppression from the authoritarian PRC regime; and targeted metro stations because of its operator's complicity with police in restricting people's freedom to protest.
By the end of 2019, more than 6,000 protesters had been arrested and approximately 2,600 people had been treated at public hospital emergency wards. After a brief suspension, police reinstated an officer who on 11 November had driven his motorcycle into a crowd of protesters. There have been numerous other cases of alleged police brutality, and dissidents accuse the force of not disciplining their officers appropriately. A senior part-time officer was suspended from duty over allegedly leaking operational plans for New Year's Eve to a Telegram group.
Accountability Leadership and supervision Complaints against the police are handled within the police force by the Complaints Against Police Office (CAPO), whose work is monitored by the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) – a government-appointed entity staffed by laypersons independent of the police. The body lacks credibility with some members of the public as its appointees are predominantly pro-establishment, and a significant number among them are allied with CY Leung, the previous chief executive officer. The council has no power to subpoena documents or witnesses, make definitive judgements and hand out penalties. A panel of international experts was hired to assist the IPCC investigate the 2019 protests, and it proposed giving it more power to launch a full investigation into officers' conduct. When this request was denied, many members of the panel resigned.
Security consultant and former police officer, Martin Purbrick, said that the police organisation is beset with organisational and management problems. Its rigid structure and culture "does not lend itself to creative ideas from junior management in times when existing rules are not working". Management has demonstrably been unable or unwilling to control rogue elements in the force. The police have often defended their actions with provocative explanations, and an analysis in Quartz suggested that police responses to criticism reflect their confidence that they will not be investigated. Head of HKPORI, Dr Robert Chung, said that the police had completely deviated from the good practices set up in 1994 under the Service Quality Wing. He suggested trust could be restored by greater discipline of police officers, whose lack of self-control had led to an escalation of civil violence; he also believed all uniformed officers should clearly display their identification on the field and refrain from infiltrating demonstrators.
The case of Indonesian journalist Veby Indah highlights the difficulty for victims of police violence in holding police accountable. Indah, while covering a protest for the Indonesian-language newspaper Suara, lost sight in one eye after being hit by a projectile allegedly fired by a police officer on 29 September 2019 as she was filming. Her request to the Hong Kong Police Force for the identity of the officer responsible remained outstanding at the end of December. Since the protests against the ill-fated bill began, Hong Kong authorities have relied on the city's police to maintain order in the face of mounting protests. Not only has the government invoked sweeping colonial-era laws to ban the wearing of masks, it has eased operating restraints of the police: A leaked document showed the government loosened guidelines on the use of lethal force one day before a student was shot: "officers will be accountable for their own actions" was deleted from guidelines. The lack of restraint exercised by the police, to the extent that being captured on film is no longer a deterrent to misconduct, has undermined its standing and legitimacy in society.
Although chief secretary Matthew Cheung apologised for the delayed police response to the violence in Yuen Long, saying the force's handling of the incident "[fell] short of people's expectations", he backtracked the next day after police unions reacted angrily. Cheung then proclaimed that the police had "fulfilled its duties in maintaining social order under enormous stress at this difficult time". Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam continued to support the police and refused outright to criticise their conduct, let alone set up an independent judicial inquiry. More than 30 leaders from across society, notably including former chief justice Andrew Li, have publicly called on the administration to launch an independent inquiry, but this is staunchly opposed by police unions. The newly promoted commissioner Chris Tang said that independent scrutiny would be an "injustice" and a "tool for inciting hatred" against the force. Government opposition to an independent inquiry has lent credence to the idea that it actively endorses police violence. No police have been held accountable for their excesses as at the end of December 2019. The inevitable conclusion many members of the public have drawn is that the police have total immunity. Police sources of Washington Post have said that a culture of impunity pervades the police force, such that riot police often disregard their training or became dishonest in official reports to justify excessive force. Commenting on police performance against guidelines one officer said that "commanders are too afraid to upset the front-line officers, so if their behavior is not too far away from the guidelines, then they'll just turn a blind eye [to excesses]". In response to the Post, the Police on 2019-12-25 stated that all officers are accountable for the force they use and their supervisors are present on site to oversee and ensure that the use of force is lawful.
Lack of identification According to Police General Orders set by the commissioner of police, plain-clothes officers must show their warrant cards and explain their identities while exercising their police power and dealing with the public.
While uniformed officers must to show their warrant cards unless it would "affect the operations, harm the safety of the officers, or if the requests were unreasonable", members of the Special Tactical Squad (STS), known as "raptors" and officially as Special Tactical Contingent, apparently stopped displaying identification numbers during crowd control operations on 12 June 2019, while press photographs taken just two days earlier showed officers displaying them. In the Legislative Council, secretary of justice John Lee defended the change, saying that the uniform has "no room" to display the identification numbers. The pan-democrats criticised the lack of identification, saying that their absence would make officers unaccountable. The issue of law enforcers without visible identification has been a major source of complaints since the protests erupted. There was considerable public anger at on-duty police officers failing to display their numbers or warrant cards during a demonstration in early July 2019. It is contended that the lack of numbers is a tactic to avoid responsibility. As of October 2019 there were at least five judicial reviews against the police force about officers not displaying their identifying numbers on their uniform.