Police History: The New Century
Although the Third Millennium was ushered in with a World-wide party, December 31st, 1999 was “business as usual” for the Hong Kong Police as the Force prepared to meet the crowd management commitments of that night, and handle any of the possible “Y2K Bug” emergencies that might occur. Although the Y2K Bug did not bite, the event set the scene for the rest of the decade which was marked by major events that required thorough planning and preparation to allow for safe implementation, such as the Fortune 500 Global Forum in 2001, the 6th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation in 2005, the Equestrian Events for the Olympic Games in 2008 and the East Asian Games in 2009. The success of these events proved the worth of the Force’s credo: “Failing to Plan, is Planning to Fail”.
The first decade of the new millennium brought more challenges for the Force. The “9-11” terrorist attacks transformed the world and the Force has been to the fore in ensuring that Hong Kong remains a safe city in terms of deterring terrorist attacks, and in preventing our international financial centre from being used to fund terrorist activities. Other issues have been equally challenging. In 2003 the Force played a key role in the community’s response to the SARS epidemic, and in the second half of the decade placed much emphasis on combating community problems such as domestic violence and youth drug abuse.
Looking ahead, the Hong Kong Police are committed to maintaining Hong Kong as one of the World’s safest cities and to providing a quality police service for all. Since its creation in 1844, the Force has faced, and overcome, many challenges. No doubt the future will bring new challenges and the Force will respond as it has always done － with confidence and professionalism to protect the people of Hong Kong.
