The Victoria Park DPAA was also the starting point for their numerous processions to the DPAA in Hung Hing Road in Wan Chai.

The task of ensuring these events and activities were carried out in an orderly manner without any undue impact on the community, fell on the shoulder of North Point Divisional Commander Chan Cho-kuen, who acted as Zone 5 Field Commander. Assisting SP Chan was Deputy Field Commander Chief Inspector Leung Sai-kau, and Chief Inspector Chan Wing-on, who was in charge of the Zone 5 Command Post set up on an upper floor of a nearby commercial building.

Inside the Victoria Park DPAA, SP Chan was also assisted by the NTN Tier 2 Company and Marine Tier 2 Company, which worked around the clock on two 12-hour shifts. Outside the DPAA, officers also manned various observation posts to keep the Command Post and SP Chan updated on the situation on the ground.

Foretaste of a hectic week

SP Chan and her officers were standing by two days before HKMC opened on December 13.

By about 7 am on December 11, the officers were geared up, and the Command Post and observation posts were well in place, for the mass anti-WTO procession due to start from Victoria Park in the afternoon. Minutes later the officers had a foretaste of what might come their way in the hectic week ahead when the Hong Kong People Alliance on WTO tried to take a 30 feet high statue into the DPAA while their representatives were negotiating with the Leisure and Cultural Services Department for approval.

A few hours later the department gave approval, and a potentially unpleasant situation for the police was averted.

Commenting on this small episode, CIP Leung said: "It gave officers a few moments of anxiety and stress, but in handling this matter, they discharged their duties with tolerance, restraint and professionalism."

In the ensuring week, SP Chan's task, nevertheless, was not merely confined to making sure that law and order were maintained inside the DPAA. She also had another important job in hand - keeping her finger on the pulse of the protesters for their last-minute changes to plans or unforeseeable moves.

SP Chan pointed out that throughout HKMC hardly a day passed without a static or active event taking place on the Central Lawn, Football Pitch, or Band Stand, some either scheduled or unscheduled. With so many different events and activities taking place everyday, she made every effort to find out exactly what was going on at the scene and what the protesters and their supporters were up to.

"We did this for the good of the protesters, for forging communication with them, and for any measures we might have to take to tie in with their unscheduled activities," she explained.

But SP Chan's efforts did not always work to her satisfaction. "We tried our best to maintain a dialogue and good communication with the protesters and offer assistance whenever and wherever necessary. We knew we could avoid unpleasant incidents if we did our job. But our good intentions were sometimes viewed with scepticism as if we were there to keep a close watch on them and their activities. They were not giving us the co-operation we had expected. We also had to overcome the language barriers," SP Chan further explained.

Staying alert to unscheduled moves

SP Chan went on to say she realised that a situation as volatile as that existing in the Victoria Park DPAA was prone to unforeseeable changes of events. She therefore, as was the case with static or active events, always kept her eyes open for any unexpected or unscheduled moves by the protesters.

Citing an example of this, SP Chan pointed out that in the morning of December 16, some protesters tried to leave the DPAA in small groups each comprising less than 30 persons. SP Chan said she could not stop them from leaving because under the law a group with less than 30 persons does not constitute an illegal procession, but she had to find out what they were up to and where they were heading.

"It appeared they wanted to test the limit of our tolerance and our bottom line for unscheduled events, but we handled this matter with great care. I'm glad it did not give rise to anything unpleasant," SP Chan noted.

SP Chan emphasised that it was absolutely essential for her to alert the Command Post and the High Command of any unscheduled moves in good time so that appropriate measures could be taken.

Everything was fine for SP Chan in her DPAA from the opening of HKMC until December 17 when protesters stormed police cordon lines and became hostile in Wan Chai. In the afternoon of that day, her NTN Tier 2 company was drafted in to back up frontline officers battling with demonstrators, and to man defence lines. In the evening her Marine Tier 2 Company was also redeployed to the frontline in Wan Chai for the same mission. As a result, swift police redeployment had to be made in the Victoria Park DPAA.

In the evening, SP Chan, with few officers at her disposal, faced an emergency situation when the protesters were returning to Victoria Park. "I was informed that the protesters were coming back to Victoria Park, and I might have to carry out arrest and sweeping operations," she recalled.

With reinforcements sent by the High Command, SP Chan eventually managed to carry out her instructions.

Dedicated officers

The conclusion of HKMC spared the Victoria Park DPAA any unpleasant incidents. This speaks volumes for SP Chan's leadership and her officers' hard work.

But she gives all the credit to her officers: "They worked from the early morning of December 11 to the early morning of December 19. They did a superb job with a commendable sense of dedication and a high degree of professionalism. I couldn't ask for more!"

CIP Chan Wing-on in charge of the Zone 5 Command Post pointed out that officers of the two Tier 2 Companies worked in the frontline in Wan Chai for over 30 hours starting in the afternoon of December 17.

And officers working in the Command Post chose to report for duty hours before their shifts started for fear of road closures arising from the turmoil in Wan Chai, he added.

After speaking to SP Chan, OffBeat is left with the conviction that she and her officers went a long way to respect the rights of the protesters and their supporters to stage various events in the DPAA, as well as the rights of the public to an unruffled life during HKMC. In doing so, they lived up to some of the Force's cherished values.

SP Chan recounts her work in the Victoria Park DPAA, along with her Deputy Field Commander, CIP Leung (left) and Zone 5 Command Post OC, CIP Chan.