Special Tactical Contingent

In response to the Occupy Central Movement the police established the Special Tactical Contingent in September 2014.^[1] The police required a specialist unit for barricade removal, crowd dispersal and special weapons support.^[1]

The media reported that the police had not officially named the contingent commonly known as the Raptors and that instead it was referred to by the police as the Elite Team or Removal Team.^[4][5]

On 1 December 2014, the media reported that the contingent had recently been officially named as the Special Tactical Squad by the head of the Police Tactical Unit, however, days later another media outlet reported that this name was used but not official yet.^[4][6]

The official English name the Special Tactical Contingent was first used by the police in a police publication in an article in Offbeat newspaper in 2016 and was used again the following year in the 2017 Police Review and in proceeding years.^[7][8][9] Despite the use of the official name from 2016, protesters and the media continued to use the name Special Tactical Squad for the contingent.

The contingent is a small unit with members drawn from several permanent units to perform duties on an ad hoc basis under the command of the Police Tactical Unit.^[1]

Members are drawn from the Police Tactical Unit (PTU) Headquarters, Counter Terrorism Response Unit, Airport Security Unit, Special Duties Unit and the all-female Tango Coy.^[10] Contingent members return to their permanent unit after completing ad hoc tasks.^[1] The contingent operates in teams of five members with the team leader either the rank of Sergeant or Inspectorate.^[10][1]

The STC would also conduct observational and command related tasks, to ensure and review the Police Tactical Unit's use of force and tactics are appropriate, to further improve from past events.

Officers initially wore a dark blue PTU uniform.^[1][22][23]

Each officer attached a team call-sign with velcro to the back of their helmet for example “3-1”.^[1][24] There was no Force requirement for a STC member to attach their service number or rank to their uniform although some officers did.^[25][1][26]

During the 2016 Mong Kok civil unrest, the police found that the PTU uniform was not suitable for the contingent.^[1][23]

A new black uniform together with protective armor was sourced from overseas in November 2016 and approved in January 2017.^[1][23] The new uniform was first used in operations on 9 June 2019.^[1][26] There was no requirement to attach their service number to their uniform although some officers attached it.^[1][26]

From 28 June 2019, each officer attached to their helmet, in addition to the team call-sign, a sticker with a letter known as a Alpha ID to identify individual members of the team for example letters “a” to “e” if the team consists of 5 members.^[1][27]

The Alpha ID was not unique to the officer and would be returned if an officer was no longer assigned to the STC and reissued to another officer.^[1]

In November 2020, the High Court found that the failure of the Commissioner of Police to establish and maintain a system to ensure that each police officer could be uniquely identified and that officers wear and prominently display a unique identification number or mark violated Article 3 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights.^[1][28]

Officers attached a fluorescent stick (including yellow or red colours, depending on their team) to their helmet at night time for easier recognition by a commanding officer.

• Police Tactical Unit (Hong Kong)
• Special Duties Unit