Hong Kong, 1918. Tranquil compared to war-torn Europe. But on January 22nd, a running battle through the streets of Wanchai ended with five policemen dead. One of the men came from a small town in Ireland. He, along with a dozen relatives, had sailed out to join the Police Force. Patricia O'Sullivan describes these policemen and the criminals they dealt with, and gives a rare glimpse into the life of working-class Europeans in Hong Kong.

This volume explores Hong Kong policing history from 1842 to 1969 through the frontline stories of many police officers.

Fighting to survive on a patrol launch during a typhoon. Investigating a murder by a Vietnamese gangster in a refugee camp. Battling riots during the Cultural Revolution, countering drug smuggling by the triads, and dealing with bank robbers. These are some of the stories told in this compilation of experiences from 50 former Royal Hong Kong Police officers.

This book is one of the first to document the challenges and opportunities facing the Hong Kong police force following the reversion of political authority from the UK to China in 1997. Thematically organized and oriented towards those issues of greatest concern to the public, such as police accountability, assaults on police, police deployment, surveillance powers, and policing across borders, it provides a detailed discussion of these and other contemporary issues. The opening chapter sets the work within historical context while the final chapter provides a comparison of policing in Hong Kong with public security in the PRC. The book will be of value to students and researchers working in the area of comparative policing, and comparative criminal justice, as well as police professionals, and policy-makers.

In this pioneering study, Sheilah Hamilton shows that, from the earliest days of British rule, the colonial administration introduced harsh legislation to control Chinese watchmen who were employed to protect the fledgling colony's property in the absence of an effective public police force. She examines the growth in different Hong Kong Government departments of what would now be regarded as 'hybrid' police and argues that the existence of such posts within the civil service resulted in greater social control of the local Chinese community at minimal extra expense. Amongst the topics of private security explored are: the impact of the few private security personnel engaged by local Chinese organizations such as the Nam Pak Hong, Tung Wah Hospital and Po Leung Kuk; the evolution of the District Watch Force from a force engaged in purely local security duties to an arm of the Hong Kong Government involved in non-security matters such as controversial sanitary inspections; and the unique system of village guards and scouts in the New Territories. A particular focus is the early maritime security problems and the internal security forces of Hong Kong's shipping companies. A final chapter compares the situation in Hong Kong and explores the similarities and differences with Shanghai during the period.

The Police in Hong Kong is the first comprehensive study of the Hong Kong Police Force, one of the largest police organizations in the world. Through detailed examinations of police practices and their value orientations, Professor Jiao aims to develop knowledge about policing in Hong Kong and related social, political, and cultural conditions in which the police operate. This work includes descriptions and analyses of: -the historical background of the Hong Kong Police -management of the 1997 handover of power from Britain to China -organizational structure and operation of the police force -changes and reforms of the police over the years -impact of the Bill of Rights -street police vs. management police behaviors -crime, organized crime, and vice problems -control of corruption and misconduct With an emphasis on empirical evidence, Professor Jiao relies heavily on his interviews with over 200 officers and on-site observations of a variety of police activities for the form and content of this study. As such, this work fills a void in criminal justice and police studies as well as Asian studies.

Hong Kong in 1970 was the fastest expanding city in the world, a city that lived on three levels - the expatriates, nearly always British who lived in almost complete isolation; the vast mass of Chinese residents struggling to get by and improve their lot; and finally the criminal and corrupt underside which not only fought among itself but also affected the life of everyone else in the Crown Colony through fear and corruption. Fighting to hold this in check - and by and large succeeding - were the Hong Kong police force. At the officer level, many were British. Into this heady and dangerous mix steps a young Merseyside policeman, Chris Emmett. His account of those times brings vividly to life the crime, prostitution, drugs, triad street gangs and corruption that was an important part of the fabric of Hong Kong of those days.