Hong Kong stop and search
OK, so its not happened for a few months, but just want to check what my rights are when I get stopped and searched.
As a person of the slightly darker complexion I do get stopped and searched once in a while. Obviously it is not because I am brown but because the police have a suspicion that I am "behaving suspiciously". Maybe that is because I am a "person of colour" walking the streets of Hong Kong, but whatever.
Now every time I've been stopped and questioned I have also been searched because "If a police officer finds any person whom he reasonably suspects of having committed or of being about to commit or of intending to commit any offence, he can search him/her for anything that is likely to be of value to the investigation of any offence that the person has committed, or is reasonably suspected of having committed or of being about to commit or of intending to commit".
Never once have I been told the reason of the search, but apparently: "Without prejudicing operational efficiency, a police officer will inform a person of the reason for a search and the intended scope of the search, prior to conducting a search."
I now request the badge numbers and branch locations of the officers who are carrying out their duties, something I previously did not. For some reason this seems to spook the officers a bit and all of a sudden they become a bit more polite (when before they would be slightly aggressive and condescending). When I mention my job its quite funny, they finish the search very very quickly and become extremely apologetic! Maybe I should lead with this first, but really that should not be the point.
Some more information from the police website
As a person of the slightly darker complexion I do get stopped and searched once in a while. Obviously it is not because I am brown but because the police have a suspicion that I am "behaving suspiciously". Maybe that is because I am a "person of colour" walking the streets of Hong Kong, but whatever.
Now every time I've been stopped and questioned I have also been searched because "If a police officer finds any person whom he reasonably suspects of having committed or of being about to commit or of intending to commit any offence, he can search him/her for anything that is likely to be of value to the investigation of any offence that the person has committed, or is reasonably suspected of having committed or of being about to commit or of intending to commit".
Never once have I been told the reason of the search, but apparently: "Without prejudicing operational efficiency, a police officer will inform a person of the reason for a search and the intended scope of the search, prior to conducting a search."
I now request the badge numbers and branch locations of the officers who are carrying out their duties, something I previously did not. For some reason this seems to spook the officers a bit and all of a sudden they become a bit more polite (when before they would be slightly aggressive and condescending). When I mention my job its quite funny, they finish the search very very quickly and become extremely apologetic! Maybe I should lead with this first, but really that should not be the point.
Some more information from the police website
via Blogger http://ift.tt/1xusv7X
