Frontline police officers have remained steadfast in their duties during the ongoing unrest over the past six months. While handling massive and unlawful violent acts across the territory, they have spared no effort to provide day-to-day policing services to the community. A district councillor has recently sent an appreciation letter to the Force, commending Regional Commander of New Territories South (RC NTS) Patrick Laidler and officers of Platoon 4 of Emergency Unit of New Territories South (PLN 4 EU NTS) for their outstanding performance in handling a case involving a suspected mentally disordered person with violence.

On the afternoon of November 27, 2019, Mr Laidler went out to visit frontline officers engaging in Operation TIDERIDER. While Mr Laidler and officers of PLN 4 EU NTS, including Senior Inspector Ho Ngai-king, Station Sergeant (SSGT) Chan Lin-sang, Sergeant Lee Ping-kwong, Police Constables Leung Chun-hung and Chung Tsz-wan, were on patrol on an EU vehicle, they heard a call regarding a suspected mentally disordered person who barricaded himself in a flat in Kwai Chung and threatened to jump from height. Mr Laidler immediately led his officers to attend the scene to render assistance.

When Mr Laidler and his officers arrived at the scene, the area was cordoned off. The man claimed to have a knife and threatened to jump out of the window. Mr Laidler recalled, "I just knocked on the door. I said this is the Regional Commander. Could you please let us come in? He was quite surprised to see a senior officer outside the door, and after brief negotiation, he quickly agreed to let me and my station sergeant enter the flat."

Mr Laidler went in first and he quickly checked that the man was not holding a knife. Mr Laidler and SSGT Chan also made sure that the window was closed. They then engaged him in conversation and talked about his problems for a few minutes. The man eventually agreed to let officers of Kwai Chung Division enter the flat to deal with the case and he was subsequently taken to hospital.

Mr Laidler said, "It's just a simple case. My officers have to deal with this type of incident every day. It just so happened that I was there at that time. It does not matter what rank we are. As a police officer, it's my responsibility to attend the scene."

"Generally, I try to visit as many frontline officers as possible. My style as a regional commander is to spend as much time as possible with my frontline officers, such as going out to work with them or attending briefings. It is important for a commander to have close interaction with frontline officers so that I can appreciate their work and also to facilitate better communication in their environment. They are much more likely to talk to me more freely when I am in their environment. Quite often they would talk about their problems, worries and expectations and they would raise things that they feel you should know. This facilitates good communication. Also, I would like to act as a role model and show my officers that I am prepared to do something that I expect them to do. This is my way of being a good leader," he added.

Although Operation TIDERIDER has posed an unprecedented challenge to the Force, Mr Laidler and his officers have remained committed to providing day-to-day policing services to the public. Mr Laidler said, "We try to utilise our resources better to deal with all policing problems, not just for Operation TIDERIDER. While some officers are being removed to do TIDERIDER work, they are not busy all of the time dealing with public order events. For instance, if they are on standby, we will ask them to patrol in those areas where there are individual policing problems."

Mr Laidler said many of his officers have taken up additional tasks and worked longer shifts, but their morale is very high. "Officers are doing an outstanding job in upholding the rule of law. They are working very closely together and the esprit de corps is good."

"The current situation is very difficult but officers should not doubt themselves in the face of criticism and rumours. People have their views, but we still have our job to do. We can only do our job properly if we have a clear head. Officers should remain steadfast in the maintenance of the rule of law and continue to provide good policing services to the public," Mr Laidler said.