Hong Kong Police Force Identification Numbers originated from 1856 corruption case

The “shoulder number” [also known as Force Identification Number (FIN)] found on the uniforms of Hong Kong Police Force officers originated from a court case involving gambling and corruption. At the time, corruption permeated the Hong Kong Police Force. Randoph, a European police officer, found a group of illegal gamblers on the street and saw it as a chance to make some money. He took the gamblers to the police station and released them right after they each paid him a bribe of 5-10 HKD. Attorney General T.C. Anstey charged Randoph with corruption and bribery upon discovering the incident. At one point, Randoph cunningly argued that it was not corruption but common practice and that the gamblers bribed him willingly; otherwise, they would have reported him. Randoph was sentenced to 12 months in prison. Anstey found that the Chinese gamblers in the case could not lodge a complaint or testify in court as they did not understand English. As such, they did not know the name of the police officer who abused his power. The presiding judge, Chief Justice J.W. Hulme, took Anstey’s advice and informed the Commissioner of Police that from 1857 onwards, all police officers must have their FIN pinned on their uniforms so civilians could identify them for complaints.

Since then, the FIN system had undergone a few changes. In 1867, there were only 598 officers in the force but they were of different races. Categorised by race, the FIN had an English letter before the number: A for British and European, B for Indian, C for Cantonese, D for Shandong Waihaiwei, and E for Russian. The system remained implemented for many years. It even brought forth a Hong Kong nursery rhyme, " A B C D, big heads dressed in green, cannot catch thieves, whistle sounds BB!"

In December 1941, the Japanese invaded and occupied Hong Kong. During their occupation, the Kempeitai [military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army] integrated themselves into the Hong Kong Police Force. They excluded the British and European officers, who were regarded as enemies and jailed at Stanley Detention Camp for three years and eight months [the entire duration of the occupation]. However, Chinese and Indian officers only needed to report for duty at the police station to continue as the Japanese Kensa. The Kensa later became the Keisatsutai [police corps]. Run by the Kempeitai and Chinese puppet state, it was organised into three classes and nine ranks. Their main mission was to arrest anti-Japanese insurgents. Although the Kensa tortured civilians to extract confessions and willfully slaughtered the innocent, many Chinese chose to join them just to make ends meet. The Kensa's summer uniform was pale yellow. A yellow armband with red text adorned the left sleeve. The winter uniform was dark blue with a white armband and black text. The armband had the words "Kensa", the officer's district and their identification number. The officers had to learn basic Japanese and salute the Japanese army.In August 1945, British warships entered the harbour. Hong Kong was liberated. At the time, the Hong Kong Police Force seriously lacked manpower and equipment. The Hong Kong government had to make do with ethnic Chinese former Kensa constables. They entered the Police Force after going through character checks and re-training. These former Kensa constables were known as "Police Constable Japan" and had a J before their identification number. Soon after, however, the usage of English letters to differentiate race was phased out.

The Hong Kong Police Force saw gradual post-war expansion. Since 1946, the Hong Kong government stopped recruiting Europeans to lower ranks. The number of Chinese officers continued to rise from less than 800 before the war to over 2,000 in 1948. On 11 March 1984, Kung Sheung Evening News reported, "Police FIN designations exceed 45,000 but the number of police officers has not reached 30,000." The Royal Hong Kong Police Force had 17,061 constables and 3,795 investigators at the time. The new batch of officers started their FIN at 45001.

From the 1960s to the mid-1990s, the police also had a "red shoulder" tradition to indicate English proficiency. There were four levels of English public exams: levels 4, 6, 8 and 10. Level 10 was equivalent to Form 6 in secondary school. Officers who passed level 6 (Form 3 equivalent) could add a red plastic plate or velvet underneath their badge number. The commonly termed "red shoulders" made it easier to identify those who could communicate in English. The practice disappeared when all candidates were required to pass the English portion of the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination [in Form 5].

Sources : https://www.thestandnews.com/politics/香港警察警員編號-因-1856-年貪污案市民無從控訴而立/

https://www.facebook.com/WatershedHK/posts/1112472442420856/