How can police use us as human sandbags? via AsiaOne

[g8crasher]

How can police use us as human sandbags?

THEY received a late tip-off that more than 20 cars had been spotted racing illegally on a highway at speeds exceeding 120kmh.

So Hong Kong police quickly launched an operation at 2am on Monday to nab them. The activation came so suddenly that police officers had no time to set up a proper roadblock. So they did the unthinkable.

They stopped five passing vehicles - three taxis, a lorry and a car - and told the motorists to form a makeshift roadblock across the three-lane Kwun Tong Bypass in Kowloon.

The motorists barely had time to get out of their vehicles. In less than a minute, three racing cars stormed down the highway and tried to smash their way through the blockade.

But the 'roadblock' did its job, stopping the racing cars in their tracks and wrecking them totally.

Apple Daily reported that the crashes resulted in an eight-vehicle pile-up, which left six people injured, including a taxi driver, a suspected illegal racer and two police officers.

The impact was so strong that one of the taxis hit a barrier wall at the edge of the highway, and nearly plunged into the sea below.

Some racing cars managed to squeeze through a gap created by the crashes, while other illegal racers - upon seeing the carnage ahead of them - made hasty U-turns and fled, with the police in hot pursuit.

One of these cars was abandoned after it crashed into a policeman on a motorbike. Its driver fled, leaving an injured female passenger behind.

The crashes and subsequent car chases resulted in 11 damaged vehicles, reported Oriental Daily.

Five racers aged between 23 and 36 were apprehended during the operation.

Taxi driver Kwok Ming-sing, 55, who was in one of the vehicles which formed the roadblock, told Apple Daily: 'I was driving in the middle lane when I was told to stop in the fast lane. I was still in my cab when it was smashed several times.'

So frightened

He added that he was so frightened, he held on tightly to his steering wheel for about a minute after the impact, not daring to move.

'I've never seen anything like this before. My legs were still shaking after I left my cab. I thought you see such things only in the movies.'

Mr Kwok accused the police of being rash in carrying out the operation without proper planning, endangering their lives in the process.

'How can they use us as human sandbags?' he said.

Mr Kwok, who has been a cabby for more than 30years, said that it would cost about HK$7,000 ($1,320) to repair his taxi.

'But money can always be earned back. Lives taken cannot be returned,' he said.

Hong Kong police have apologised for the roadblock fiasco, and said preliminary investigations showed that they had made mistakes when planning and conducting the operation.

Ed - crazy ass HK police man.

[g8crasher]

Top cop's sorry saga via SingTao English Online - http://edu.singtao.com/eng-s/digest_details.asp?article_id=305#

Hong Kong’s top cop has made an unprecedented apology in the wake of the “human blockade” saga.

The actions of Tang King-shing make him the first police commissioner ever to say sorry in public.

The apology by Tang came after five civilian drivers were ordered to form a roadblock to stop illegal car racers in their tracks.

Their vehicles – three taxis, a lorry and a car – were stopped by police and used to block the three lanes of the Kwun Tong Bypass shortly before 2am on Monday July 13. The drivers remained in the vehicles, which were struck by three cars believed to be involved in illegal racing.

The resulting pile-up and chases to two other roadblocks led to eight people, including a taxi driver and two police officers, being injured.

“According to initial investigations and the information we have gathered so far, we believe there has been some error in judgment in our operation,” Tang said.

“I apologise to the citizens affected, including the drivers involved in the traffic accident and the car owners.”

But in an attempt to play down the police role, he said road racers had endangered not only their own lives but also those of the public.

Officers had received numerous 999 calls about the road race and had to make a quick decision.

However, he promised to review the force’s operational procedures. “In any police operation, our aim is to protect life and property. The safety of the public is one of the key elements we take into account,” Tang said.

Though he did not promise compensation, he instructed a district commander to assist drivers and car owners, subject to the all-clear from the Department of Justice.

A source close to the police said an internal investigation will be conducted to determine whether anyone breached internal procedures.

Meanwhile, there are questions as to whether the setting up of the roadblock satisfies the occupational safety requirements of frontline police officers. “A police officer should always be able to protect himself, before he can protect the lives of others,” one veteran officer said.

Police public relations branch chief superintendent Ng Ka-sing also apologised to those caught up in the roadblock.

If an investigation determines the police are responsible for the pile-up, they will accept responsibility and help pursue any damage claims, Ng said.

Taxi and Public Light Bus Concern Group chairman Lai Ming-hung said some drivers have complained before about being used by police to block roads but that, in most cases, approaching vehicles made U-turns in time.

Hong Kong Police Inspectors Association chairman Tony Liu Kit-ming, who is also the chief inspector of Kowloon East traffic division, said the incident has damaged public opinion of officers. Liu said the police will learn from the experience and avoid such a thing happening again.

The five men held on suspicion of furious driving were released on HK$10,000 bail and must report back to the police at the end of the month.

Adapted from an article in The Standard on July 15, 2009

[g8crasher]

I really really think BBK saved their ass big time.