Search Overload

It's not uncommon to see police on the street corner or in an MTR station running a check on someone's Hong Kong ID card.

Most of the time it happens when police believe someone's behaviour is odd. Many times they catch illegal overstayers, illegal immigrants, or suspected triads.

But one Hong Konger who claims he's been stopped and searched 21 times in the past two years (and once was searched by no fewer than eight officers) has had enough: he's suing the Police Commissioner for $10 million. It could have been worse; he could have been taken to the station for a chat with the rubber-glove brigade.

But he has a point: as with North American police, Hong Kong cops should first have probable cause before they search someone. Mind you, in the United States police are infamous for tricking unwary citizens into giving up their Fourth Amendment rights when probable cause doesn't exist.

This guy must look like a real badass to warrant that much attention.

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