Being one of the counter-terrorism units in the Force, the Force Search Unit (FSU) has been playing an important role in counter terrorism, security and evidence collection since its inception in 1992.

One of the main duties of the FSU is conducting venue search and security screening in major events. They have carried out defensive search in the Ceremony for the Handover of Hong Kong in 1997, the Sixth World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in 2005, the Olympic Equestrian Events in 2008 and the East Asian Games in 2009, just to name a few. This year, the FSU went all out to facilitate the celebration events for the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. As many as 740 officers were mobilised in one single day.

In addition, FSU officers offer professional support in evidence collection at scenes of crime. Recently, the cadre has been tasked to retrieve dead bodies of missing persons in streams and hill caves, and gather evidence in wells and drains. In 2009, the search team members entered a collapsed lift shaft to collect evidence after six workers fell to death in an accident at the International Commerce Centre. They also assisted some residents, who were affected by the collapse of a tenement on Ma Tau Wai Road in 2010, to recover their personal belongings from the rubble.

The FSU has strived for enhancing its professional abilities in the past 25 years. It runs a dedicated training school in Sha Ling where officers undergo training with the aid of search facilities and security screening equipment. The Diploma Programme in Police Search and Venue Security and the Certificate Programme in Behaviour Observation Technique were recognised under the Qualifications Framework at Level 3. On the other hand, the professional quality of the FSU was substantiated by the acquisition of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Quality Management System ISO9001:2008 accreditation in 2009.

Looking ahead, the FSU will continue to improve its service quality and search techniques, and acquire new technology and equipment, with an aim to coping with different types of searching operations of the Force.