【明報專訊】On 28 October 1977, thousands of police officers and their relatives held an angry demonstration against the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). Some of them even stomped into (憤怒地踏入) the ICAC building, injuring several ICAC officers.

1. Background

Corruption was rampant (猖獗的) in Hong Kong in the 1960s and 1970s. For instance, people who needed medical treatment might not get it if they would not tip the ambulance crew, and citizens had no choice but to offer bribes when they applied for public housing or school places.

But it was police officers that were most unscrupulous (肆無忌憚). Lowly-paid police officers on the beat demanded bribes from shops and stores, while their superiors amassed great fortunes by putting up police positions for sale.

2. The establishment of the ICAC

The establishment of the ICAC was triggered by the furore (騷動) over Peter Godber (葛柏), who was a Chief Superintendent (總警司) of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force. Discovered to have amassed no less than HK$4.3 million, he fled to Britain to the outrage of Hong Kong citizens. To address their anger, Murray MacLehose (麥理浩), who was then governor of Hong Kong, set up the ICAC to handle complaints about corruption.

That led to discontent among police officers, as corruption had been so widespread among them that basically policemen of all ranks could be convicted. The two sides increasingly came into conflict, as ICAC officers repeatedly made high-profile arrests in police stations, much to police officers' anxiety. This culminated (到達最高點) in the 1977 clash.

3. The clash

Around 5,000 people who were police officers or their relatives descended on the Hong Kong Police Headquarters on 28 October 1977, demanding that Brian Slevin (施禮榮), who was then Commissioner of Police (警務處長), address the "low morale" among them resulting from the ICAC's actions. About two hundreds of them made their way to the provisional headquarters of the ICAC in Admiralty. They clashed with ICAC officers, injuring five of them.

4. The decision of pardon

The colonial government was faced with a tough decision. Should the ICAC press on with (繼續) its investigation of corrupt police?

Immediately after the clash, Governor MacLehose convened an emergency meeting with Jack Cater (姬達), who was then ICAC Commissioner, and some senior officers of the police and the British Forces in Hong Kong (駐港英軍). MacLehose reportedly thought of having the forces to deal with the situation. But the military disagreed, arguing that it would do Hong Kong no good to pit the military against the police.

Having weighed up the pros and cons, MacLehose announced on 5 November 1977 that all those who were suspected of bribery but had not been charged as of 1 January 1977 would be pardoned (特赦). The police were appeased, at the expense of the morale of ICAC officers.

5. Later events

Many years later, after Hong Kong's handover, the police clashed with the ICAC on several occasions. In 2002 ICAC officers arrested Sin Kam-wah (冼錦華, shown in picture), a senior superintendent, accusing him of bribery. That led to a strongly-worded rebuttal (辯駁) from the police. The ICAC later dropped most of the serious charges against Sin.

In 2010 police officers from the Commercial Crime Bureau (商業罪案調查科) entered the ICAC building, arresting three ICAC officers for manipulating a witness during the investigation of a fraud case. They were subsequently convicted of perverting the course of justice (妨礙司法公正) and misconduct in public office (公職人員行為失當).