Hong Kong: Colonial Capitalism (From Comparative Policing Issues: The British and American Experience in International Perspective, P 86-101, 1990, Rob I. Mawby -- See NCJ-133548)

• NCJ Number: 133554
• Author(s): R I Mawby
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 16 pages
• Sale Source: Unwin Hyman Ltd
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

The Hong Kong police system is described as an example of a colonial police force. The police force that developed in Hong Kong reflected its British colonial past.

Abstract

It was an armed force with senior officers from the United Kingdom, and a militaristic structure, dual entry, and chain of command centralized through the colonial administration accountable to the British government. In modern policing, the move towards a democratic force has been somewhat erratic. Despite community-base policing initiatives, political threats from communist China, illegal immigration, drugs, and organized crime have contributed to the continuance of a repressive police system. Hong Kong's police system is an agency of a laissez-faire capitalism government, with its marked inequalities and little participation of the public in the operation of the government. It is responsible for maintaining the current political and economic system. Within this context, a move toward community involvement would yield an extension of police control of the community rather than a move toward public accountability.