Police vehicles in Hong Kong
Police vehicles in Hong Kong are vehicles of the Hong Kong Police Force, vehicles differ considerably depending on the duties of the departments that the vehicle is assigned to. One of the most commonly seen police vehicles in Hong Kong is the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter police van, which is mostly used by district stations and the Emergency Unit, one of the roles expected of it is rapid response to 999 emergency calls with regards to road safety and public safety.
Current vehicles
Most police vehicles in Hong Kong follow the British "jam sandwich" livery and are white, with a blue and red 3M retroreflective stripe around on the sides of the vehicle with wording "警POLICE察" in white, the only exception being the armoured personnel carriers specially designed for the Police Tactical Unit, which are wholly dark blue and with wording "警POLICE察" on a light blue background in white on the sides of the vehicle. During British rule and up until the 1980s Hong Kong Police vehicles were painted dark navy blue, which is only retained by tactical APC today. Most police vehicles in Hong Kong are equipped with both red and blue emergency vehicle lighting. The vehicles which are allocated at the Hong Kong International Airport having an additional yellow emergency vehicle lighting and yellow roof top. All police vehicle are government property and therefore, have a licence plate which starts with "AM".
Since 2008, the Hong Kong Police Force have brought in the use of Battenburg markings for new police vehicles of the regional traffic branches. In addition, these new vehicles show the force crest on the front part of the vehicle, which the force has not used in the design of new vehicles for the last two decades.
Unmarked vehicles
The Hong Kong Police Force have unmarked police vehicles in order to catch and arrest criminals in the act, such vehicles include the discreet high performance BMW 5 Series 535i Touring car and Infiniti Q70S. Also, the force operate unmarked police vehicles for surveillance to gather evidence of any criminal offence. In addition, for security purposes, armoured cars specially designed for the Very Important Person Protection Unit and bulletproof tactical police vehicles specially designed for the Special Duties Unit have no markings also.
This is a list of current vehicles (incomplete):
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- A Traffic Branch police van (second generation Mercedes-Benz Sprinter).
- Traffic Branch Toyota Prius
- Traffic Branch Honda VFR800P police motorcycle.
- Traffic Branch BMW R900RT police motorcycle.
- A Nissan Tiida Latio police vehicle allocated at the Airport District have yellow car roofs and orange lights.
- Unmarked BMW 5 Series
- A police personnel carrier.
- A police 4WD specially designed for the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau.
- A Police Command Unit.
- An Isuzu LT police bus.
- Unimog armoured personnel carrier.
Retired vehicles
Following the Second World War, Hong Kong Police vehicles, with exception of motorcycles were generally painted in "battleship" grey. The livery changed to dark 'navy' blue following the Queen's bestowment of the "Royal"title to the force in recognition of their services during the 1967 Communist disturbances. The Royal Hong Kong Police crest was also displayed on the vehicle. This livery remained standard until the 1990s when white and black/navy blue ; black/navy blue with a white roof or white with a red stripe and blue pinstripes came into being.
This is a list of retired vehicles (incomplete):
- Alvis Saracen APC - tactical APC (all retired)
- Bedford TJ (all retired)
- Mitsubishi Galant- car (all retired)
- BMW R850RT-P - motorbike (all retired and replaced by BMW R900RT-P)
- Ford Cortina - car (all retired)
- Ford Transit Mk.II - van (all retired)
- Ford Falcon - car (all retired)
- Ford Granada - car (all retired)
- Mazda Familia - car (all Retired)
- Mazda Capella - car (all Retired)
- Mazda 626 and 323 - car (all retired)
- Mazda 929 - car (all retired)
- Mazda Bongo E2000 - van (all retired)
- Morris Mini - car (all retired)
- Ford Telstar - car (all retired)
- Honda CB750P - motorbike (all retired)
- Isuzu NKR - lorry (all retired)
- Isuzu FTR - lorry (all retired)
- Landrover Series III - patrol SUV (all retired)
- Mercedes-Benz T1 207D/310D (all retired)
- Mitsubishi Fuso Bus (BM chassis) - bus (all retired)
- Toyota Camry (XV10) - unmarked (all retired)
- Toyota Dyna - lorry (all retired)
- Leyland DAF – van (all retired)
- Grey police vehicles during the Hong Kong 1967 leftist riots.
- A retired Honda CB750P police motorcycle.
- A retired Mercedes-Benz T1 Patrol Van.
- Police Tactical Unit specialised first generation of armoured personnel carrier, Saracen. Now parked at the Police Tactical Unit Base's gates for exhibition.
- Police Tactical Unit specialised second generation of armoured personnel carrier, Saxon. Now parked inside the Police Tactical Unit Base for exhibition.
- A vehicle specially for senior officers.
External links
Media related to Police automobiles in Hong Kong at Wikimedia Commons Media related to Police motorcycles in Hong Kong at Wikimedia Commons