Austin American-Statesman
AUSTIN — When Hong Kong police leaders wanted ways to improve ties with the community, they looked for examples 8,200 miles east — in Austin.
Hong Kong police Superintendent Connie Yau said she was impressed by the number of community outreach programs the Austin Police Department has, including its regular public forums, in which neighborhood residents and patrol representatives can discuss crime trends and solutions; Operation Blue Santa, which brings officers and community volunteers together to help families in need; and its decision to assign an officer to every policing district as a community liaison.
Last week, Yau and two senior investigators who run the Hong Kong police department’s youth and senior outreach programs visited Austin to observe officers at work.
“Community relations is important to every police force in the world,” Yau said. “We need support. In Hong Kong, we have a huge population — 7.5 million people — so we have to work with the community.”
Over three days, the Hong Kong officers met with their Austin counterparts, including Austin officers in the Police Activities League, which organizes sporting events for kids; Operation Blue Santa; and Seniors and Law Enforcement Together, which meets monthly to discuss law enforcement issues of interest to Austin’s older residents.
Senior officer Joshua Visi, who is an Austin police district representative for Southwest Austin, talked to the Hong Kong officers Friday about some of the work he does, such as helping residents build neighborhood watch groups, walking children to school in areas with high crime, hosting ice cream socials for residents and running soccer tournaments for kids.
What makes those outreach efforts possible, Visi said, is that district representatives like him don’t have to respond to calls or investigate cases all day.
“I’ll be honest with you: Most patrol officers at that rank, they don’t get that level of freedom,” Visi told them. “It’s a tremendous amount of freedom that I have. And I’m grateful for that, because it gives me the opportunity to do so many things I wouldn’t be able to do at this rank.”
Police in Hong Kong, a former British colony handed back to Chinese rule in 1997, operate under a “one country, two systems” deal that guarantees freedoms not seen in the rest of China, including freedom of speech and the right to protest. For decades, the Hong Kong police department had a reputation for being one of the most respected in the region. But public opinion has soured in recent years because of administration changes, as well as officers’ use of force during pro-democracy protests.
The Hong Kong agency has programs similar to the Austin Police Department’s, but they’re not as comprehensive, Yau said. Hong Kong’s Junior Police Corps has existed since the 1970s, but other programs are newer.
“We’ve started our SPC (senior police corps) two years ago,” Yau said. “So we think it’s time to go out to really see the program, where it is done somewhere else in the world. That is why we are here.”
Copyright 2016 Austin American-Statesman