7) Women Officers – How the Force Achieved Equality

The proportion of women in the HKP is one of the highest among major police forces in the world. Before 1949, however, Hong Kong Police did not have any female police officers, though at many police stations women were engaged as ‘searchers’ on an informal basis. These female searchers conducted body searches and took fingerprints of female suspects and arrested persons. By 1949, there were 44 female searchers in the Force.1 In 1949, a Malaysian Chinese, Ms Hui Kam-to, alias Kimmy Koh, was appointed as the first woman sub-inspector of the Force.2 Without receiving any formal training, Ms Hui was quickly deployed to the Criminal Records Bureau. After three months, she was redeployed to the Central District where she became the first woman detective. She was promoted to Inspector of Police in 1952. Ms Hui left the Force in 1962.3 In 1951, persuaded of the need to recruit a contingent of female officers, Force management directed Ms HUI to select the first batch of women constables to replace the female searchers, marking the beginning of policewomen in Hong Kong police history.4 The first intake of 10 (9 graduated)5 women constables (WPCs) underwent a 6-month training course at the Police Training School, with the syllabus focusing on the ordinances that dealt with the protection of women and children. There were regular guest lectures from Hong Kong’s early social workers.6 There was no training squad specifically for women officers and they were arranged to receive training, such as foot-drill, togethe