Police Relax Residency Requirement For New Recruits

The police announced on Wednesday that they are relaxing the residency requirements for new recruits, to help tackle a manpower shortage.

From Friday, applicants for the roles of constable, inspector and auxiliary officers will no longer have to have lived in Hong Kong for at least seven years, as long as they have permanent resident status.

Police superintendent Baron Chan told a press conference that the relaxation enables the force to align with the practice of other disciplined services and maintain its competitiveness in the job market.

“With the change, we believe the police force could hire candidates from different backgrounds, including Hong Kong permanent residents who study and graduate from institutions on the mainland and overseas. These candidates can speak different languages and possess an international perspective, which is good for the long-term development of the police force,” he said.

Chan said there is a manpower shortage in the police force, with 5,000 vacancies currently unfilled.

He said that over the past year, the police took on 170 inspectors and 484 constables, but recruitment had been seriously affected by the coronavirus situation, especially in the last few months.

The force aims to hire 240 inspectors and 1,350 constables in the coming year, Chan said.

But he said he expects there will be difficulties in achieving the target, as the working-age population is falling and people are losing interest in taking up government jobs.

Chan added that the police will introduce urine drug tests into the recruitment process.