Police officers patrol Mong Kok yesterday. Edmond Tang

Police unions yesterday petitioned for a review of the force's grade structure and pay scale after a round of failed discussions last month.

About 20 representatives from four police associations yesterday presented 15 boxes of petition letters signed by more than 19,200 police officers - ranging from constables to chief superintendents - to the Joint Secretariat for the Advisory Bodies on Civil Service and Judicial Salaries and Conditions of Service Secretariat.

The four associations that constitute the Police Force Council Staff Associations (PFCS) represent 70 percent of the Hong Kong police force.

The officers unsuccessfully demanded to meet with Barry Cheung Chun-yuen, the new chairman of the Standing Committee on Disciplined Services Salaries and Conditions of Service, who replaced Henry Fan Hung-ling.

Chung Kam-wah, chairman of the Junior Police Officers' Association, said the police pay scale has been severely distorted in the past 20 years. The last review of the officers' grade structure was conducted in 1988.

Increments for the force range from approximately 2 to 3 percent, while those for civil servant on the master pay scale reach 4.5 percent, on average.

"A constable joins the police with a higher starting salary than civilians. However, with more experience years later, he is actually earning less than a government clerk when both of them reach their maximum increments," he said.

He added that although a pay-trend survey of private-sector companies is conducted every year, disciplined forces actually have no comparable jobs in the private market to be assessed, so the current police pay scale is unfair.

Moreover, Chung was discontented that the "special factors" in the job of a policeman - the job nature, pressures from work and family, the lack of priority in receiving medical treatment and of receiving financial support in litigations - were overlooked by the committee.

The PFCS therefore asked for an independent mechanism designated for the police force under the Grade Structure, including standardizing the incremental points to at least four percent for all ranks and providing a suitable police pay scale to reflect the special factors in policing.

Such an overhaul in the pay scale would give an average monthly increase of HK$1,700 to each police officer, costing the government HK$49 million more each month.

"Officers are simply looking for a fair deal to value their experience and professionalism after adding special factors in the review," Chung said.

He added that a proper and rationalized Grade Structure review is urgently needed, saying that if, otherwise, police morale will fall, giving rise to high turnover and recruitment difficulties.

David Williams, chairman of the Overseas Inspectors' Association, described their last meeting with Fan astalking to a "brick wall", and he said he hopes the new chairman, Cheung, communicates with them more openly and in a genuine way.

(HK Edition 11/07/2008 page1)