Anti-police Accessories Strike Nerve At Blood Drive

A recent blood drive at the Auxiliary Police headquarters in Kowloon Bay struck a nerve after a staff member of the Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service showed up laden with anti-police paraphernalia.

Media reports say the individual was wearing an assortment of provocative objects, including one that said “Dirty cops, may your whole family die!”

Police then demanded the supervisor to hand over the name and position of the individual concerned, but were rejected.

Responding to queries from RTHK, the force said that officers at the scene on Tuesday were concerned about the situation.

Following a discussion with the service, officers decided to abort the blood drive.

Asked whether the force had lodged a complaint, or if future blood donation events would be cancelled, a spokesman said police believe this is an isolated incident, and hope to continue cooperating with the service in future following further discussions.

The Hong Kong Red Cross, meanwhile, said in a social media post that it has reached out to the blood transfusion service to find out more about the incident.

It said the service acknowledges the attitude of one of its staff members during the event was “less than ideal”, and apologised for the “unfortunate misunderstanding”.

The Red Cross added the Hospital Authority – which manages the service – is following up the matter according to its mechanism for handling complaints.

The Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service has in recent months been appealing on the public to step forward to give blood because of a chronic supply shortage due to the coronavirus pandemic.