A close bonding has been well established between regular and auxiliary police officers over the years. During Operation TIDERIDER, they have been working hand in hand to maintain law and order in Hong Kong, fully demonstrating their comradeship.

In the past five months, the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force (HKAPF) rendered unfailing support to the Hong Kong Police by providing more than 500 members to perform duties every day. Over 1 000 auxiliary members were on duty on October 1. Auxiliary members were tasked to perform station defence, high-profile patrol, watch and ward duties and crowd management duties. In some critical occasions, some auxiliary members were required to work more than eight hours in a normal shift.

Regional Commander of Kowloon West (RC KW) Cheuk Hau-yip said that the manpower required and duty hours for both regular and auxiliary police officers are unprecedentedly under tension. The staunch support of auxiliary members in the following two incidents has shown the camaraderie between Hong Kong Police and Hong Kong Auxiliary Police.

On the afternoon of August 11, Sergeant (Auxiliary) Philip and his colleagues were tasked to perform station defence duty at the Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station. Rioters smashed the main entrance of the report room, and then went to the police station's vehicle entrance and threw bricks and petrol bombs. Police Constable Shing was attacked by a petrol bomb and the lower part of his body was on fire. Philip threw himself on Shing so as to put out the fire. Philip suffered from bruised knees and Shing sustained a second-degree burn.

When they met again at the hospital, Shing could not find any word to express his gratitude. Without the selflessness and courage of Philip, Shing knew he would have sustained much more serious injuries. In a life-and-death situation, Philip saved him! Shing said, "During Operation TIDERIDER, we work with our auxiliary counterparts every day. We watch each other's back." Philip has served as an auxiliary police officer for 25 years and he echoed what Shing said, "We will always support our regular counterparts." They laughed and looked at each other with a sense of brotherhood.

Another incident happened on October 1. Demonstrations were held in various districts and rioters committed vandalism. While Senior Police Constable (Auxiliary) Yeung and his colleagues were on board two patrol vehicles in Yau Ma Tei, they noticed two police officers were being attacked by rioters in the junction between Nathan Road and Waterloo Road. Yeung and his colleagues put on their helmets and got off the police vehicles to rescue the officers.

Yeung recalled, "I saw three colleagues being attacked and their heads were bleeding. However, the rioters kept hurling all kinds of objects at us. I was under attack and fell down with my helmet fallen off, and other officers were also beaten to the ground. At that moment, I pointed my revolver at the rioters to scare them away so as to save my colleagues."

Yeung said that he had no time to think in a life-and-death situation. "My regular brothers were being attacked and I had to save them. We must act with courage, confidence and determination to manage this dangerous situation."

Yeung is grateful for the support from the senior management of the Hong Kong Police and the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police, fellow regular and auxiliary colleagues, Training and Staff Relations Officer of Mong Kok District (MKDIST), Force Welfare Officers, as well as officers from Kowloon West Regional Crime Unit, Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau and MKDIST. He specially thanked Commander of MKDIST Bradley Wright, who took immediate action and led his troop to save them. In addition, Yeung's auxiliary colleagues in Tsim Sha Tsui Division made a strap for his helmet so that he could replace the old one which was torn in the incident. Yeung's eyes were filled with tears when elaborating.

He concluded in a firm voice, "Once you put on the Police uniform, you need to serve the community with sincerity, impartiality and justice."

RC KW Cheuk Hau-yip said, "We are ONE in the same uniform. Operation TIDERIDER has lasted for months and the situation could have been much worse without the rationality, humanity and restraint of our officers." With his 37 years of policing experience, Mr Cheuk encouraged all officers to remain dedicated to their duties and be courageous in the face of difficulties. "With the can-do spirit, we can manage anything if we do it together," he said.

Having reviewed the nature of overtime work during Operation TIDERIDER and considered the exceptional situation of internal security, Director of Operations Siu Chak-yee has approved full hourly rate for overtime claim (current provision is 50% of hourly rate) with a maximum of additional eight hours a day for auxiliary officers. This is the first time ever that such arrangement is made in the 105 years of Auxiliary Police service in Hong Kong.

Commandant HKAPF Yang Joe-tsi said, "All auxiliary members are grateful for the above arrangement. We will continue to work with our regular counterparts to uphold the law and safeguard Hong Kong."