Wan Chai North sealed off in minutes

Traffic Hong Kong Island took just about 10 minutes to seal off Wan Chai North to traffic after it had activated a contingency plan to deal with HKMC demonstrators' escalated actions in the evening of last December 17.

"As soon as the plan was activated, traffic officers were deployed to man over 40 strategic traffic control points located on the major thoroughfares on Hong Kong Island, directing traffic away from Wan Chai. The main objective of the contingency plan was to seal off and direct the held up vehicles away from Wan Chai so that frontline officers could swiftly arrive at the scenes of commotions. We managed to achieve this objective within a very short time on the night of December 17," said Senior Inspector Lee Jim-on from the Enforcement and Control Division of Traffic Hong Kong Island.

SIP Lee pointed out that the contingency plan was thrashed out following many internal meetings and consultations with the Transport Department and Highways Department, to deal with the scenario of traffic in Wan Chai being paralyzed by demonstrators' drastic actions.

The plan was just part of a tremendous amount of preparation work carried out by Traffic Hong Kong Island before HKMC. Another preparation was a blitz, carried out one month before the opening of HKMC, against illegal parking within the area bounded by Victoria Park in the east, north of Hennessy Road in the south, Arsenal Street in the west and south of Gloucester Road in the north. At the same time, officers alerted shop owners in the area of possible road closures and traffic diversions during HKMC. In addition, they issued copies of a publicity leaflet to this effect to motorists and motorcyclists.

"We also used the news media and television to get our messages across to the public. We did this in the hope that the public, in particular shop owners, would be psychologically prepared for what might happen to them during HKMC, and would take corresponding measures and offer co-operation for whatever actions we might take on the roads," said SIP Lee.

In preparing for HKMC, Traffic Hong Kong Island also considered a very important strategic point - the possibility of traffic signs for road closures and traffic diversions being used by demonstrators as weapons against the police. It eventually came up with an innovative idea of using signs made of foam board instead of the conventional metal plate. Subsequently all the road signs and traffic cones used at Wan Chai North throughout HKMC were tailor-made of foam board and other light material. This innovation might have contributed to reducing injuries to frontline officers tackling unruly demonstrators.

As HKMC opened on December 13, 2005, over 240 traffic officers, including about 40 on loan from Traffic Kowloon West, were geared up for the challenges ahead, SIP Lee pointed out.

"As a result of our preparation work, the officers were both psychologically and physically prepared for their important roles. They knew exactly what they had to do, how to do and do it fast. They also knew they had to deal with demonstrators' expected moves and make decisions and take corresponding measures in a split second," he noted.

Throughout HKMC, SIP Lee continued, traffic officers, on average, worked three hours' overtime each day on top of their 12-hour shift. "This took a toll on their physical and mental conditions, and brought them considerable work stress! Despite this, every officer got his or her job done!"

SIP Lee emphasised that traffic officers, in carrying out road closures and traffic diversions, fully considered the rights of demonstrators and other road users, in particular members of the public. "We did our best to strike a balance to satisfy the needs of every party concerned, and gave due regard to every party's rights, in particular the public's safety. We discharged our duties with fairness and impartiality, acted fast with clear directions, and always remained sober and neutral."

Demonstrators' unpredictability and sudden changes to their procession plans, nevertheless, had posed the biggest difficulty for traffic officers. Explained SIP Lee: "Although we knew beforehand the demonstrators' scheduled processions and their procession routes, they often changed the routes, or advanced or delayed their departure time. In the face of this situation, we had to gather intelligence on their unscheduled moves and to adjust our plans accordingly within the shortest time. Very often, changes came quickly one after the other, giving officers very difficult times."

Fortunately, many members of the public, especially shop owners, offered full co-operation to the police, despite the inconvenience of road closures and traffic diversions. SIP Lee's colleague, Sergeant Lee Man-bun, saw this public support as the result of the publicity work carried out by Traffic Hong Kong Island.

"I still remember the case in which shop owners offered us water and drinks when we told them from door to door that their road would be closed soon because of sudden changes on the part of the demonstrators. They appreciated we had a job to do, and offered their full co-operation. This was really an encouragement to the officers working so hard on the frontline," SGT Lee noted.

Maintaining public order at sea

In preparing for their HKMC mission, officers of the Marine Region considered all the possible scenarios that could happen at sea, including demonstrators staging protests in the harbour. As a result of a lot of brainstorming, meetings and discussions, the Marine Region finally came up with a comprehensive plan to deal with all eventualities, including the setting up of a 196-member Marine Region Task Force (MRTF).

Senior Inspector Ng Yun-fat, one of the two officers in charge of the MRTF, told Offbeat that the Task Force's mission was mainly undertaken by three assault teams, a rescue team, a cutting team and an inshore patrol craft team.

"The assault teams' main function was to deal with violence at sea, while the others dealt with protests at sea. When the HKMC delegates arrived and departed, one of the assault teams patrolled the sea around the Hong Kong International Airport to ensure that there was no unauthorised entry to the closed area," he explained.

When HKMC opened last December 13, all the six teams were well prepared for their different roles, the assault teams having received training on tactics, crowd management and use of equipment at the Police Tactical Unit Headquarters, and the rescue team a refresher course on first aid.

When roads were closed at the height of the demonstrators' escalated actions in Wan Chai North on December 17, the marine officers were called into play when they escorted the vessels taking HKMC delegates to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from a government pier next to the Hong Kong and Macao Ferry Terminal, and shipped additional equipment and resources to Wan Chai to replenish the stock for frontline officers.

The Marine Region was equally well prepared for its other tasks. Inspector Kwok Chi-sing of the Trial and Maintenance Unit told OffBeat that to ensure that the maritime closed area would remain out of bounds for demonstrators, his team, together with the Cutting Team, marked off the area under the two bridges leading to the HKCEC with a 200-metre rope, a 50-metre wire and 200 buoys.

Facing limited resources, as well as a "complicated and uncontrollable environment in the harbour", the teams had a difficult job in putting the floating barriers in place. However, IP Kwok was glad that his men had resolved the technical problem with teamwork.

In a bid to protect the demonstrators who might showcase their protests in the harbour, Marine Region even went to the extent of designing special propeller guards for its vessels for the first time.

The preparation work proved useful when the anticipated harbour protest took place on the first day of HKMC on December 13. Initially marine officers did not interfere with this dramatic action because they respected the protesters' rights to voice their views. They merely kept a watchful eye from their vessels, but on seeing the demonstrators could hardly stand the cold water, they eventually plucked them on board, brought them to the Marine Operational Base, and offered them hot drinks and snacks.

SIP Ng said that on the way to the operational base, the protesters were sceptical of the police's intentions due to the language barrier. But after an officer's wife, who could manage some Korean language, had acted as an interpreter on the phone, the demonstrators had their doubts cleared and expressed their gratitude to the officers.

Immediately after the sea drama, Marine Region approached the Marine Department for loaning a 60-metre jetfloat pontoon and a 600-metre oil boom, all of which were put in the harbour near the Wan Chai Star Ferry Pier the following day, in a bid to protect the demonstrators and prevent them from getting nearer to the closed area.

"The swift response from, and the smooth co-operation with, the Marine Department, shows that we had an effective communication both within and outwith the Force, which is one of the values that the Force cherishes," said IP Kwok.

HKMC breaks COMMS' records for single operation

In catering for the communication needs of officers on HKMC duties, Information Systems Wing's Communications Branch (COMMS) set a record for a single operation it has ever undertaken.

According to Police Telecommunications Inspector Hsu Tung-fai from COMMS' Technical Support Section, COMMS redeployed the highest number of radio sets and systems, reconfigured the highest number of radio channels and talk-groups and deployed the highest number of radio sets of different types and models.

Before and during HKMC, Mr Hsu worked closely with two other key players - Senior Inspector Chan Kam-cheong of the CC3 Implementation Team of Operations Wing and Assistant Police Telecommunications Inspector Mok Yiu-fai of COMMS. All of them worked hard to make sure the radio sets required by officers were sufficient and in the best condition.

SIP Chan and Mr Mok were responsible for providing CC3 radios and ensuring that the talk-groups met the operational needs of frontline officers and commanders on different levels, while Mr Hsu looked after the redeployment of CC2 radio sets as a supplement to the CC3 System.

During HKMC, over 8,000 CC2 and CC3 radio sets with more than 80,000 accessories were provided for officers.

Mr Hsu pointed out that the CC2 radios were redeployed especially for more point-to-point capability and for use indoors during HKMC. Decommissioned after the rolling out of the CC3 System, the old CC2 radios were re-programmed and overhauled, with the accessories also being touched up, before being despatched to frontline officers.

As a supplementary system for frontline officers, especially those working in Wan Chai, the CC2 radios provided "simple and direct point-to-point communication" without going through the CC3 Platform.

As the CC3 System had not been rolled out in Kowloon Regions before HKMC opened, SIP Chan arranged for some 3,000 officers required for HKMC duties from the Regions to receive standard training on the system between August and October last year. He first arranged train-the-radio trainers sessions for representatives from each District in Kowloon, and then later assisted the District trainers to train their officers at the Kowloon East Operational Base in Ngau Tau Kok.

The CC3 Implementation Team also updated the training manual for trainers, issued 5,250 "Radio Cue Cards" to officers as a guide to CC3 radios, designed and added 30 extra talk-groups to meet the needs of commanders on different levels, and worked out a comprehensive "Channels and Talk-groups Plan" for reference by officers, which necessitated the matching of over 550 channels and talk-groups with HKMC units. In addition, all useful information on CC 3 was also disseminated on the NoticeBoard and CC3 Website on POINT.

After the opening of HKMC, both the CC3 Implementation Team and COMMS also played different important roles, working 24 hours a day.

Working at the command and control centres, members of the team monitored radio traffic, handled problems of radio equipment, and worked closely with all of COMMS' workshops to provide a one-stop service.

At the same time, COMMS' Information & Communication Technology Support Unit (ICTSU) worked round the clock at various RCCCs, command posts and the ICTSU Centre, providing technical support services and advice, as well as solving any communication problem.

As well as radio and console deployment support, ICTSU also rendered services related to line equipment, video conferencing, video surveillance support, help-desk functions, and radio network management, etc.

Listing some of COMMS' achievements in HKMC, Mr Hsu said: "We could meet officers' requirements successfully and timely. All CC2 equipment was functioning effectively throughout HKMC, and was well received, especially in Wan Chai. There were no major breakdown and all minor issues could be resolved."

Traffic officers ensure that protestors' procession routes are free of traffic

SIP Ng (middle) and IP Kwok (left) recount how Marine Region maintains law and order at sea

The three key players in radio communications, (from left) SIP Chan, Mr Mok and Mr Hsu