One Officer Beat vs. Two-Officer Beat Patrol for the Hong Kong Police: 
An Exercise in Policy Analysis 

Kam C. Wong 

ABSTRACT

    On March 14, 2001 a young Hong Kong Police (HKP) Constable (PC) Leung Shing-yan was shot and killed in the line of duty. The incident aroused a fierce public debate as to whether HKP should adopt a one-officer (single beat or SB) vs. two-officer (double beat or DB) patrol policy. 
    This article addresses issues raised in the SB vs. DB debate. What is the social and political context giving rise to the debate? How should such a policy debate be resolved? What are the pros and cons of both patrol deployment measures？Are there any other better alternatives? More importantly, what immediate and effective remedial steps can be taken to secure the front line police officers' safety and security without compromising the public's legitimate expectation for order and service. This article provides the HKP community - policy makers, operational managers and front line officers and their representatives - with relevant research literature and empirical data to understand the issues involved and help resolve the debate in a reflective manner. In the end, it is argued that education and training is more important than staff deployment in reducing risk of injury to police officers in routine patrol. Removal of side arms and demilitarization of the HKP is also suggested.