Attending the gathering were officers from SMPDIST, KTDIST, WTSDIST, RAILDIST, PTU, EU KE, KE IS COY, T KE (ESCORT Coy), CRM KE (HKMC CRM Team) and KT CRT.

Addressing the gathering, Mr Cooper said: "As your Regional Commander watching the events unfold over the week, I felt a tremendous pride over your determined, resolute, tolerant and disciplined responses to every situation you faced.

"Hong Kong owes you a vote of thanks for your work and so do I and other senior officers in the Region."

Earlier, Mr Cooper said that following very busy 12 months and a "frantic week", HKMC was a great success from police perspective in terms of planning and execution.

He pointed out that as a Region, KE was extensively involved in all areas of frontline deployment with over seven full companies deployed.

KE officers were amongst the first to engage the violent protestors in Wan Chai and were also amongst the first to suffer casualties and injuries amongst both male and female officers. Many did not seek sick leave but returned to join their platoons, he added.

Among the KE officers injured during HKMC is Sergeant Chan Wai-ping from PTU 'D' KE, who is, among the 79 officers injured during various HKMC operations, the only officer admitted to hospital.

After staying in hospital for two days with a fractured toe, SGT Chan is recuperating on sick leave. He now wears a specially made shoe and walks with the help of a stick, and doctors expect this will continue for six to eight weeks.

Mr Cooper had visited SGT Chan in hospital and home to make sure he got proper medical attention.

SGT Chan sustained his injuries when protestors rammed barriers against his platoon at the junction of Fleming Road and Harbour Road in the evening of December 17 in an attempt to break a police defence line to get closer to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

During the mayhem, he was not aware of his injuries until several hours later. After receiving first-aid treatment, he immediately returned to confront the protestors. It was when he could hardly bear the pain that he received further treatment by AMS personnel at the scene, and was eventually admitted to United Christian Hospital in the early morning of December 19. By that time he had worked for around 40 hours on the front line.

During an interview with OffBeat, SGT Chan dismissed his injuries as "something I've expected as a police officer". "When I joined PTU training, I knew I had to work for HKMC. I'm glad that not too many of my colleagues were hurt," he explained.

A long-distance runner, SGT Chan is only a bit miffed at not being able to do any jogging, and take part in any competitions for the time being.

Finally, he sees his involvement in HKMC operations as "an invaluable experience for myself", and is glad that there is positive feedback on the Force's HKMC missions.

Like SGT Chan and many other officers, WPC Yip Nga-yan from PTU 'Tango' KE returned to work immediately after receiving treatment for cuts, bruises and other forms of injury at the scene.

She was injured on the thigh when she was pinned down to the ground as demonstrators of a procession rammed a wooden platform against a cordon formed by women officers at the junction of Marsh Road and Lockhart Road on December 17.

"Many of us fell to the ground like dominoes as we tried to hold back the demonstrators. At that moment fear didn't cross my mind, but on reflection, I think it was a critical moment of life and death," she noted.

"My colleagues behaved very bravely in the face of the demonstrators. We've learned team work and team building during training, but you can only realise what they really meant on the ground when officers supported each other in a very nasty situation," she added.

Kowloon East Regional Commander Kevan Cooper is proud of his staff's performance during HKMC