Policing the Pearl: Historical Transformations of Law Enforcement in Hong Kong

• NCJ Number: 224273
• Journal: International Journal of Police Science & Management Volume: 10 Issue: 3 Dated: Autumn 2008 Pages: 349-356
• Author(s): Mathieu Deflem; Richard Featherstone; Yunqing Li; Suzanne Sutphin
• Date Published: 2008
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This paper discusses historical patterns and dynamics of policing in Hong Kong since the formation of the first police force in the then British colony in 1844 until the handover to China in 1997.

Abstract

The Hong Kong police (HKP) have often been described as possessing a paramilitary structure oriented at maintaining public order and suppressing public disturbances, rather than being engaged in the civilian police functions of crime control. This paramilitary nature is historically linked to the British control of Hong Kong in 1842. The HKP remained a quasi-military arm of the colonial government for at least 100 years. Today, police scholars argue against the notion that the paramilitary nature of the HKP has faded, and maintain that it still provides an institutional impediment towards change. In addition to its paramilitary nature, the HKP were historically steeped in corruption problems. Corruption was primarily the result of the relatively widespread practice that Chinese magistrates and their representatives in the 19th century expected a certain amount of payoffs from their citizens. The case of the historical transformation of HKP is revealing in terms of the path of policing in a process of colonization and decolonization, but it also has broader relevance regarding the relative weight of external pressures and institutional dynamics in the transformation of the police function and police organization. The paramilitary traditions that historically dominated the HKP constrained the institution’s move towards professionalization. By launching community policing initiatives, an increased focus on crime control, and the promotion of ethnic Chinese officers a significant transformation was achieved in relation to the corruption crackdown in the HKP during the 1960s and early 1970s. The paper suggests that changes in policing styles require police administrators to work actively from within their institutions and work towards the creation of a responsive and responsible police organization. References