The young man standing on a Hong Kong street corner early Friday afternoon had much in common with the pro-democracy protesters who had blockaded major avenues for the past week: Cheerful and eager to help passers-by, he was a recent college graduate with friends at the barricades downtown.
But unlike the protesters, the young man wore a dark blue police uniform, and had a police officer’s cap clipped to his belt. And like many officers here, he felt mounting frustration not only with the protesters, whom he blamed for his long hours, but also with the government, which he blamed for holding the police back while taking a wait-them-out approach to the protesters.
“I have to work 15- or 16-hour shifts, with very little rest,” the young man complained, insisting on anonymity because he did not have permission to speak with a journalist. “I think we are much more lenient than other countries. What we should do is not let the demonstrators leave because they are taking shifts and going home, eating meals and sleeping; if we don’t let them leave, the protests will wither away quickly.”
PHOTOGRAPHS
Images of Hong Kong’s Umbrella Revolution
A wave of pro-democracy protests has engulfed Hong Kong, swelling at times to tens of thousands, and raising tensions with mainland China.
Asked what he would do if he found himself in a police line facing a protester who was a friend from college, his answer was crisp and unhesitating: “If anyone I know confronts me, I’ll do my job.”
As the protests here enter their second week, the tactics of the Hong Kong police force have come under intense scrutiny. Some pro-democracy critics describe as unwarranted the use of dozens of tear gas grenades last Sunday on unarmed protesters — the first use of tear gas in Hong Kong since protests against a World Trade Organization meeting here in 2005. The critics also contend that the police did not respond fast enough to defend protesters at one location on Friday evening from an angry crowd, possibly with links to organized crime, that pushed and even hit protesters while accusing them of disrupting business.
Others say the police have not been aggressive enough in stopping protesters from illegally closing off roads to traffic for a week. And others have wondered where the sympathies of the police lie in a city that heavily favors democracy, but is deeply divided on the tactics needed to pursue that goal.
Little has been heard from the officers themselves, largely because they have been ordered not to speak to the news media.
But in separate interviews without the knowledge or consent of police officials, six current and former officers spoke of the frustration that they and many others on the force felt at bearing the brunt of the protesters’ anger, and at having their hands tied by a government policy that eschews confrontation, at least for now. With the exception of Steve Vickers, a former head of police criminal intelligence, they all spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Among the specific complaints of the police: that protesters have been allowed to shout at them and poke them with the umbrellas that have become a symbol of their protest.
Officers are also upset that protesters have been allowed to block roads with more than 1,000 barricades that belong to the police.
MAP
Areas of Skirmishes and Protests in Hong Kong
Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protests have been occupying several areas in Hong Kong since Friday.
Officers had hurriedly abandoned the barricades, made either of steel or of red and white heavy-duty plastic, when the government abruptly ordered most police officers off the streets on Monday after the controversy that erupted over the use of tear gas. They have largely remained off the streets ever since.
“It is difficult for us when we see the law broken,” said one officer.
But tempering such anger is a wariness of being involved in a political dispute at all. “We are a law enforcement agency, it should not be us,” the officer added.
Mr. Vickers, who was the force’s head of criminal intelligence before Britain returned Hong Kong to China in 1997 and is now the chief executive of a risk mitigation company here, said that concern is widespread. “The police view this as a political situation and are hoping for a political solution,” he said, adding that, “if they’re given solid political backing, I’m pretty sure they’ll clear the demonstrators.”
Until the disturbances of the past week, the Hong Kong police had a global reputation for effective crowd control. In 2003, a pro-democracy crowd estimated at 350,000 by police and at over 500,000 by organizers boiled through downtown streets but caused no property damage, and not a single arrest was made. Police officers stayed polite and even friendly while also making sure that protesters followed their designated route through the heart of downtown.
Robert S. Mueller III, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation at the time, remarked in an official visit here soon afterward that the Hong Kong police had set new standards for managing large crowds of protesters, and that the United States was among the countries learning from their example.
With few exceptions, the police are not usually even armed, in good part because few criminals here carry guns. Hong Kong has some of the world’s most stringent gun control laws; possession of two or more bullets is punishable by a jail sentence of 18 months.
Scenes of Chaos in Hong Kong
Violent skirmishes broke out between pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong and the men who tore down their encampments on Friday in the Mong Kok neighborhood.
Video by Jonah M. Kessel on October 3, 2014. Photo by Wally Santana/Associated Press.
The police were forced to take a tougher stance with protesters last Sunday for fear that the crowd was about to topple barriers and cause a stampede that could injure protesters and officers alike, a police commander said. The commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case, said he ordered his officers to lob tear gas grenades over the front of a mostly peaceful crowd of more than 20,000 people because a small group of agitators at the front had nearly succeeded in pushing over steel police barriers.
Television footage does not show the interlocked barriers giving way, although people at the front of the crowd do appear to be scuffling with police and poking umbrellas at them.
Albert Cheng, a democracy advocate who is a former member of the Independent Police Complaints Council, a statutory agency created in 2009, said that the crowd had been peaceful and that the use of tear gas was excessive. He also questioned whether the police had given an audible warning to demonstrators before using it.
The commander said they had, and while the roar of the crowd might have mostly drowned it out, he believed those at the front would have heard the warning.
He said that his officers did not even have any tear gas grenades until he became worried about the steel barriers, and that he asked for his senior commander to authorize sending them from the Police Headquarters several blocks away.
After complaining of excessive force last Sunday, protesters were upset on Friday night about inadequate force being used against pro-Beijing counterdemonstrators who accosted them, hit them and allegedly groped some women students.
A Hong Kong government official said on Friday night that the police had made an intensive effort to protect protesters in the face of a very large, hostile crowd.
“There’s a ring of blue and white around the protesters, and bedlam everywhere else,” said the official, referring to the blue uniforms worn by most police officers and the white shirts worn by more senior officers.
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