'Public Inquiry Can Help Rebuild Trust In Police'

Two former members of the police watchdog have argued that an independent inquiry into the policing of unruly anti-extradition protests on June 12 can help rebuild trust between the force and the public.

Protest groups have demanded an inquiry after police used tear gas, rubber bullets and bean-bag rounds on protesters who were closing in on the Legislative Council building in Admiralty.

Grievances against the police have helped fuel further protests even after the government suspended the extradition proposal that sparked the original demonstrations.

University of Hong Kong legal scholar Eric Cheung said that the police complaints mechanism was unfair to frontline police officers because it could only investigate complaints about the actions of individual officers.

The Indpendent Police Complaints Council, on which he previously served, did not have a remit to look into other actions on that day, including the behaviour of protesters.

Another former IPCC member, lawmaker Kenneth Leung, agreed that an inquiry was needed..

"We have to look at the strategy, the training and how they tackled the protesters in the whole series of incidents," he said. "There may be instances in which the police have done good and there may be instances in which the police have done wrong.

"So, if you want to have a more comprehensive picture of what is going on and increase the confidence of people in such a report, then an independent inquiry committee is necessary."

Senior police officers and officials have rejected calls for an inquiry, saying the police's complaints system can handle any difficulties. Under the two-tier complaints system, public complaints are investigated by the in-house Complaints Against Police Office.

The IPCC can accept or reject the office's findings or order it to carry out further investigations but has no investigative powers of its own.