Hong Kong customs chief says staff will feel ‘complicated emotions’ over crash

Hong Kong customs chief has said that a controversial motorbike crash involving one of his officers has likely stirred “complicated emotions” among his staff.

An off-duty customs officer’s attempt on January 3 to intercept a motorcyclist, who died moments later when he lost control and crashed, has become the subject of widespread debate over the appropriateness and legality of the former’s actions.

Viral dashcam footage of the crash shows the officer’s right hand briefly connecting with the motorcyclist as he sped past. The rider, surnamed Wong, was pronounced dead at the scene.

In a TV interview that aired on Sunday, Commissioner of Customs and Excise Chan Tsz-tat was asked whether guidelines should be introduced for off-duty officers facing similar situations, but he stopped short of saying if such protocols were necessary.

He was also asked to clarify his previous remark that “most disciplined service officers have a courageous spirit in their genes”.

“I believe for the Customs and Excise Department, when it is related to our colleague, they will feel varying complicated emotions,” Chan said, stressing that all residents were bound by the law.