Morale of junior police officers could not be lower: union leader
The morale of junior police officers has sunk to an all-time low as they are ordered to tolerate Occupy protesters who hold illegal rallies and cause gridlock, a police union leader has claimed.
The morale of junior police officers has sunk to an all-time low as they are ordered to tolerate Occupy protesters who hold illegal rallies and cause gridlock, a police union leader has claimed.
"We start to be unable to distinguish right and wrong," Junior Police Officers' Association chairman Joe Chan Cho-kwong said in a telephone message to management that the union said did not represent its stance.
Chan also questioned whether police committed an offence by helping to defend barricades set up by demonstrators from the civil disobedience movement during clashes with opponents on Monday.
"There were residents exercising their civic responsibility to remove illegal barricades in Admiralty, Mong Kok and Causeway Bay to restore traffic flow and order," he said.
"Police did not follow the law and assist the removal of road obstacles, but guarded the illegal obstructions and assisted those gathered illegally to carry out their illegal behaviour."
He asked whether police broke the law with Occupy protesters or helped them in committing an offence.
Chan said he did not understand the management's decision and many colleagues expressed distress to the union, which represents about 20,000 junior officers.
"I believe morale of junior officers cannot be lower … I'm really sad," he said.
The telephone message was sent to director of personnel and training Alfred Chau Kwok-leung on Monday.
Chan was not available to comment yesterday.
A union spokesman said the statement did not represent the association's stance. He said front-line officers were stuck between the Occupy protesters and their opponents and took insults from both sides, but were restrained and professional.
Police Inspectors Association chairman Henry Ngo Chi-hang said the group passed its members' views to the force regularly.
"A lot of our members felt exhausted and tired because of lengthy shifts," Ngo said, adding that the long and irregular hours also affected their families.
Ron Abbott, chairman of the Overseas Inspectors' Association, said it had been dreadful to see officers sleeping on the side of the street and struggling to get enough food and water.
But he was pleased to see management had acted and that the situation had improved.
"Officers have been working lengthy shifts over and over again and trying to do what is right for the public at large, remaining professional throughout, but it is not easy when they are stuck between two opposing sides and taking flak from one or the other, no matter what they do," he said.
Abbott said that his group had met the police director of personnel yesterday and was given assurances that senior management was doing all it could to alleviate the situation for front-line officers.
