PPRB's replies to the media

A press release in Chinese was issued and a letter was sent to a Chinese-language newspaper refuting a quote it published on March 28, attributed to Deputy Commissioner (Operations) Douglas Lau Yuk-kuen, regarding the arrest of a man in connection with the murder of PC Leung Shing-yan. The letter rejected the inaccurate quote and clarified what Mr Lau had actually said about the matter.

ĦEA press release was issued and a letter sent to another Chinese-language paper rejecting its March 28 report claiming Special Duties Unit officers would be used to back up Emergency Units in cases involving armed culprits. They clarified that EUs already had sufficient manpower and accoutrements.

ĦEA letter was sent to another Chinese-language paper refuting incorrect reports it ran on March 25 and 26, regarding police operations at a Sha Tin disco. The letter clarified that over 160 people had been arrested and drugs seized in operations since it opened last July, and that the person in charge was arrested and summonsed in October for illegally selling liquor.

ĦEA letter was sent to an English-language paper on March 27, regarding a reader's letter questioning whether Police were targeting jaywalkers more than red light jumpers.

The letter maintained that the Force was concerned about all traffic offences and took appropriate action. It suggested the writer might have misunderstood the situation, as enforcement against jaywalkers was more visible than that against red light jumpers.

ĦEA letter was sent to an English-language paper expressing disappointment over a claim in one of its gossip columns, published March 23, that an unnamed senior officer allegedly refused to join his Police colleagues in contributing to the family of late PC Leung. The letter said the claim was so short on details that the paper itself must have questioned its veracity. The letter questioned whether the paper realised the considerable disquiet such an article could cause to the PC's colleagues at such a painful time.

ĦEA press release was issued and a letter sent to a Chinese paper March 19, debunking its story claiming frontline officers in land Regions would be reduced in the coming fiscal year while newly added manpower would mainly be deployed to Marine Region and the Police Training School.

The release said the paper had confused the establishment with actual working strength figures, and clarified them. It added that the 183 newly added posts were for frontline land duties and not for Marine or PTS.