Tang: Challenging to find 2,500 recruits

Police Commissioner Chris Tang Ping-keung said it is challenging to recruit 2,500 police officers for the Hong Kong Police Force in this financial year (2020-21) as the police face high risks of personal information leak.

"I believe there are committed people who are willing to safeguard law and order in Hong Kong. Yet it is a challenge because they may be afraid that their family members will be doxxed if they join the police," Tang said.

"We have to wait and see the response and the number of applicants, but I was glad that the application for auxiliary police officers surged by 70 percent last year," he added.

According to the official data, the total number of police officers in the city will reach at least 38,400 in this fiscal year, a 7 percent increase from the current 35,863. The proposed growth is also expected to address the surge of crime cases amid strained police manpower.

"I think without additional manpower, it will be a big challenge for us. You can see what happened in the past nine months. It may end up with the same situation in which our officers need to work very long hours," Tang said.

In 2019, the city's overall number of crimes took a drastic turn after 12 consecutive years of decline, when it rose by 9.2 percent to 59,225 cases from 54,225 cases in 2018. It was a tough year for the law enforcement force, dubbed "Asia's finest", especially since June, when the months-long street violence triggered by the since-withdrawn extradition bill began.

Apart from the incessant street violence since June, police manpower was also strained by the increase in crime reports — a byproduct of the nonstop violence inflicted by rampaging anti-government radicals.

The police in a statement on March 2 indicated that a surge in crimes such as robberies, burglaries, snatchings, and thefts from vehicles was linked to the fact that "criminals were taking advantage of the thinning out of crime prevention work and resources to cope with related public order events".

"After the illegal 'Occupy Central' campaign in 2014, the number of applicants dropped a bit, but it went back to normal fairly quickly. In recent recruitment exercises, we could choose one inspector from about 40 applicants and one constable from 10 applicants."