Court Urged To Stop ID-less Cops Going On Duty

A 73-year-old local resident on Monday asked the High Court to stop any police officers who don’t display their identification number from going on duty.

The man said he was taking a rest in a park near Harcourt Road when clashes broke out between police and anti-extradition protesters on June 12, and when he saw a group of officers from the force’s special tactical squad walking towards him, he took out his phone and took pictures of them, and the officers threatened him and stopped him.

The man, who said he was not a protester, said people are free to take pictures in Hong Kong, and he did not understand why the officers told him to stop. However, since none of the officers were showing identification numbers, he could not lodge a complaint.

That is why, he said, he had to seek justice through the courts.

The man is applying for a judicial review on why police officers did not display their identification number, and is asking for a court injunction that bans officers from exercising their duties if they fail to show their ID.

The Secretary for Security, John Lee, had earlier said that the special tactical team’s uniform does not have room to display the officers' ID numbers. But photographs of the unit just days before the June 12 clashes clearly showed some officers were displaying their numbers.