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Following is a question by the Hon Jeffrey Lam and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Lai Tung-kwok, in the Legislative Council today (November 26):
Question:
It has been reported that since the occurrence of the road occupation movement (the occupation movement), most of the frontline police officers have been required to work overtime and have even been subjected to abuses hurled at them from time to time by the protesters and supporters of the occupation movement. As a result, they have become physically and mentally exhausted and even their relationship with family members has been affected. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) since the occurrence of the occupation movement, of (i) the shift arrangements for police officers, (ii) the number of staff members of the Police who worked overtime for performing duties relating to the occupation movement and the total numbers of hours and days of such overtime work, and (iii) among these staff members, the respective numbers of those who are regular police officers, auxiliary police officers and civilian staff members; and the respective percentages of such numbers in the total numbers of the staff members concerned;
(2) how the Police compensate the staff mentioned in (1) for the overtime work performed by them;
(3) since the occurrence of the occupation movement, of the number of police officers who were injured when performing duties relating to the occupation movement, or suffered from emotional problems, fell ill or sought help from the Hong Kong Police Force because of excessive pressure; and
(4) whether it has assessed the impacts of the occupation movement on the manpower of the Police so far; if it has assessed, of the outcome?
Reply:
President,
The Administration's reply to the Hon Jeffrey Lam's question is as follows:
(1) and (4) As a law enforcement agency, the Police have the statutory duties to maintain law and order, as well as to safeguard life and property. Given the serious impact of "Occupy Central" (or "the Occupy Movement") on public safety and public order, the Police have to deploy substantial manpower and resources for handling operations related to "Occupy Central" on the one hand, and maintaining day-to-day police work and public services in various districts in Hong Kong on the other.
In the face of large-scale unlawful assemblies triggered by "Occupy Central" at a number of locations for almost two months, frontline officers have remained steadfast to their duties around the clock. Police officers involved in the handling of "Occupy Central" are required to work for a long span of time. Their duties include preventing violent incidents within the occupied areas and their vicinity; conducting mediation and separating crowds with different views to minimise confrontations and physical scuffles; taking enforcement actions against acts in serious breach of law; following up on arrests and providing other support services. The Police have flexibly deployed their internal manpower and resources to meet the operational needs arising from "Occupy Central" and, at the same time, provided various districts with sufficient manpower (including auxiliary police) to maintain day-to-day police work. The Police's deployment of manpower involves operational particulars, and is, therefore, not to be disclosed.
(2) The Hong Kong Police Force compensates police officers for their overtime work in accordance with the Civil Service Regulations. Overtime work shall normally be compensated by time-off in lieu. Disciplined services overtime allowance would be paid to an eligible police officer if granting of time-off cannot be arranged within one month after the officer has undertaken overtime work.
(3) "Occupy Central" has been going on for almost two months, coupled with large-scale unlawful assemblies in different districts at the same time. The complexity of Police's operations in response to "Occupy Central" is unprecedented. Police officers are facing immense challenge and are under enormous stress. The storming and confrontations at different locations of unlawful assemblies in recent days have resulted in the injury of 69 police officers.
The Police have been making proactive efforts to promote a caring culture and establish a well-designed information system on stress management training and education to strengthen police officers' resilience. Starting from the foundation training, new recruits are provided with courses on psychology in policing and management of stress. The Psychological Services Group (PSG) of the Police also provides officers with training on positive psychology for sustained positive work attitude and emotion. The PSG keeps abreast of the daily development of "Occupy Central"-related operations. In addition to delivering encouraging messages to colleagues through the Carelinks Cadre, which is formed by voluntary officers having completed psychological service training, and mobile phones and the Police intranet, the PSG also gives advice on self-care and emotional adjustment. To help officers in their emotional adjustment and to understand their morale, Police's senior management and Police Clinical Psychologists visit frontline officers at places including the Police Headquarters, the Central Government Offices and the Mong Kok Community Centre to communicate with them directly. As at November 24, requests for PSG's assistance were received from eight police officers on account of post-operational stress.
During the operations in the recent two months, Hong Kong Police have stood fast to their posts and performed their duties with perseverance and untiring devotion in a professional and impartial manner with a high level of restraint. The SAR Government fully supports the Police in their continued efforts to handle with professionalism such extremely difficult tasks.
Ends/Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Issued at HKT 12:40
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