Police Used Excessive Force?

Val migrated to Australia some years ago but returned to Hong Kong last year.  She lives in Hong Kong now and visits Australia occasionally [1].

VAL:  Hong Kong police blatantly used excessive force against young protesters.

SAM:  Why do you say that?  How do you know?

VAL:  I have seen videos of police beating up young protesters.

SAM:  You haven't been a police officer; you haven't experienced what Hong Kong police have experienced.  You don't fully understand the circumstances around those incidents; and you don't have the expertise in determining if excessive force was used or not.  How can you conclude, by just watching videos, that Hong Kong police had used excessive force?

VAL:  But they are not going to have an independent inquiry.

SAM:  Hong Kong already has an Independent Police Complaints Council that monitors the handling and investigation of complaints against the Hong Kong Police.  The IPCC has 29 prominent Hong Kong citizens, independent of the government and police, serving as members on the council.  Do you know any of them?

VAL:  Not really.  But I don't trust the IPCC.  I believe they are biased towards the police.  The IPCC was set up by the Hong Kong government.  Council members were all appointed by the Chief Executive.  The whole Hong Kong government and the Chief Executive are corrupt.  So I can't believe the IPCC can be fair and can properly investigate police violence.

SAM:  IPCC cannot hide the incidents you saw in the media.  They have been captured by media around the world.  However, IPCC may say after reviewing the circumstances around a particular incident, the behaviour of the Hong Kong police was justified.  If you claimed that the IPCC is biased towards the police, what you mean is that the criteria in deciding whether the police had used excessive force or not, is too lenient.  Isn't that right?

VAL:  Yes.  I think an independent inquiry will be fairer; and it can set a proper standard for police behaviour.

SAM:  Then that will be a different standard from the current one.  The police has been working under the framework of the existing standard.  If an independent inquiry reviews past events with a different standard, that will be unfair to the police.  Don't you think so?

VAL:  Yes.  I can see that.

SAM:  I have also seen reports of protesters violently attacking police.  You have not criticised violence committed by the protesters.  That is unfair to the police.

VAL:  The protesters are different from the police.  The protesters have no leaders.  The protest movement cannot be responsible for what some rogue protesters do.  The police is different.  They have a command structure.  So when some police use excessive force, the whole police force is responsible.

SAM:  Assuming some officers were guilty of using excessive force, but I suspect the Hong Kong police may still be much more restraint than police in other countries.  In July alone police in Rio killed 194 people – a rate of more than six a day [2].  In USA, 992 people were shot by police in 2018 [3].  In Hong Kong, no one related to the anti-government protest has been killed by police so far.

VAL:  It is difficult to compare police in different cities.  Each city's situation is unique.

SAM:  I think the statistics are quite convincing though.  Perhaps we can agree that violence in Hong Kong is increasing.  The saying “hate begets hate; violence begets violence” rings true.

VAL:  I agree that violence is increasing in Hong Kong.  The phrase was used by Martin Luther King Jr.  Perhaps some of Dr. King's teaching is relevant to the situation in Hong Kong now.  He says:

Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love [4].

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy, instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate.

Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that [5].

Note:  (1) This is a fictional dialogue only.  Picture file is sourced from Wikimedia Commons authored by Open Clip Art Library:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1Stop_police_violence_fav-555px.jpg
(2) The Guardian (Australia edition 16 Sep 2019):  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/16/rio-de-janeiro-police-violence-deaths-families
(3) Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/police-shootings-2018/
(4) Famous quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. Washing State University web site: https://mlk.wsu.edu/about-dr-king/famous-quotes/ 
(5) Martin Luther King Jr. (1967). Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?. p. 62.