The efforts of Hong Kong residents, our free market economy, legal structure and high levels of security have made Hong Kong a safe, prosperous city where foreign businessmen feel safe doing business.

The levels of law and order in the community are attributable to our colleagues' determination and efforts over the past decades. Few Hong Kong people would disagree with this. In fact, our own Police Force has achieved great improvements in their attitudes and professionalism.

With the rapid development of our society, the significance attached to accountability and transparency of our Government, and growing concern about human rights and the law, it is not surprising that Police officers performing duties such as 'stop-and-search' or issuing offenders with traffic tickets are frequently queried, or even rebuked, by members of the public. Many of our frontline colleagues do experience such situations, and some of them become the subject of complaints.

Whilst executing our duties it is sometimes inevitable that we may cause members of the public inconvenience or even embarrassment. Obviously, most complaints concern the attitude of officers instead of focusing on whether Police action taken was lawful. Indeed, more patience and understanding from both sides will help in preventing unnecessary complaints.

Today the community is more and more demanding. This places us under great pressure. The public used to fear law enforcement officers and tried to avoid trouble (not to mention complaining about Police) but now their attitude is different and they demand legal justification for everything, whilst the paparazzi tries to scratch below the surface for supposed unrevealed facts which they can publish to attract readers. This hopefully explains how difficult being an officer can be. While ensuring that justice is done, we should also exercise discretion.

While adapting to continuing change and the demands put on us by the general public, we must also be ready to face queries or even accusations from the public regarding our actions. Our attitude at work must be fair and just, always displaying our professionalism and friendliness. Whenever appropriate, we should offer assistance or advice, finding a balance between justice and thoughtfulness. Complaints against Police will certainly be minimised when our quality of service is recognised by the public.