Policing and policy transfer: Is Mainland China learning from Hong Kong?

Despite the different policing environment between Mainland China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the Mainland police have been learning from the Hong Kong experience in the area of operation. To enhance the manpower of Mainland police, private security companies have been legalized while residents’ anti-crime groups have been partially incorporated into the regular police force. The auxiliary police force has become an experiment in some Mainland cities, whereas the Hong Kong practice of police handbooks is viewed as a model for the Mainland. The Mainland police have been implementing various reform measures, such as the mass line concept, the visitation scheme, the heightened sensitivity toward “radical” individual and mass action in public places, the improved quality and quantity of police officers, and the recognition of the need to reform the recruitment, performance appraisal and training of the police force. If policy transfer refers to a process of learning through actors such as officials, groups and policy practitioners, it has taken place in Mainland China, which has been learning from the Hong Kong police. The policy ideas and practices of policing in Hong Kong have begun to shape the thinking of Mainland police officers, who have absorbed some Hong Kong experiences through their study visits, conferences and seminars that involve both Mainland and Hong Kong police. Copyright © 2011 Centre for Governance and Citizenship, The Hong Kong Institute of Education.