Anna Poon remembers

Anna Poon has very fond memories of her service at Central Police Station.

I was a Woman Police Constable in late 1979 and was based at the Peak Police Station where the SDI was Donaldson. I was transferred to CID Central after being interviewed by OC CID C, Elizabeth Mary Kerr (I think she was the only expatriate lady inspectorate officer in Central Division at the time. The CIP CID C was John Breen.

We were called Junior Investigators (JI) at the time. There were about five investigation teams, if I remember correctly. I had to handle lots of morning reports. I was also invited by expatriate officers to join their Christmas parties at their houses, such as SDI Peak, OC CID C and DS C at Repulse Bay. I remember the RC HKI was Mr McDonald, DRC HKI was Mr Redpath, DS C was Mr H.M. Whitton, who loved smoking his pipe. ADS was Mr Lionel Lam Kin, SDI C was Mr Willy-Furth, Mrs Annie Chu Ying Nin was a local woman officer. The ratio of WPCs to PCs was about one to 10. I was promoted to Probationary Inspector after about two years as a Constable.

The Central Police Station campus was packed with HKI HQs, C District HQs, C Division HQs, EU HKI, T HKI, RSDS HKI, Regional Vice Squad, SO Mess (as I believe it was), the Officers’ Mess as well as barracks for the JPOs.

There were three shifts a day for UB and CID worked 12 hours shifts with a five day cycle. I felt that the whole police station was a big family under the leadership of the DS and ADS with the RC and DRC. The atmosphere was so harmonious that I never felt tired, even though sometime I had to work for more than 16 hours a day.

I need to mention our JPO Canteen, which was a gathering place for every team to meet together, feed ourselves and go off to work without worrying about looking for food. I never heard one complaint in those days. Everyone cared for each other. In a team we had Inspectors, S/Sgt and Sgt as supervisors and assistant supervisors. We looked after each other not only during our daily work but also sometimes in personal or family affairs. Sergeants played a role like moms and Inspectors were like the dad of a family.

Every so often we had exercises dealing with raids, attacks or emergency action. EU HKI also had its drills. The Victoria Detention Center was next to the EU HKI office with a flight of steps up. Therefore, the Correctional Services Department also had a close liaison with us.

After promotion to Inspector, I left Central Police Station and worked for 12 years in different positions and districts. In 1994, I returned to Central Police Station as Road Safety Officer, Hong Kong Island. There, the he other senior women officers were Mrs Katherine Roper, Miss (I cannot recall her name at this moment). Of course, I will never forget SSP Lai Pak Hay, who was my SSO T HKI. Mr Willy Furth was again my boss as SO T HKI. I had an unforgettable four years before I left Hong Kong for the United States in 1997. He was like Santa Claus after he retired and came back to my office one day. I should have a picture of him in my LA house.

I was an active member of the Officers’ Mess. Without everyone’s support the mess would not have existed. We had a curry lunch at the Officers’ Mess every two weeks. You would always see me there and we had the best PC and WPC chefs there. Our curry lunch was a popular event and I remember that Jacky Chan and other businessmen and movies stars would come along.

When I was RSO/HKI, I would occasionally invite stars, singers and business people to hold functions at the police station to support Road Safety activities.

I miss my police friends and my police life. I never regret being a woman police officer in those days with our British government.

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