Stop glorifying prisoners: CSD chief

Commissioner of Correctional Services Woo Ying-ming called for a stop to the glorification of being a prisoner in Hong Kong, claiming some people are doing so for political reasons.

He made the remark after a number of youngsters were jailed for participating in social unrest.

Woo said some people had "romanticized" and "valorized" imprisonment in an attempt to downplay its harm and encourage young protesters to break the law.

He said some frontline correctional officers came to him for help with the handling of these prisoners who had been jailed for political reasons.

Woo said the officers were burdened with stress, especially when they recalled the time when some disciplined services officers had been doxxed or framed during the social unrest.

Woo said he had reassured the officers, saying they were the "backbone" of the force that handled the "war" in prisons. "Over the past century, correctional services officers had gone through countless challenges, but they have been able to stand on their own feet and remain fearless."

Woo said correctional services officers just had to continue carrying out their duties based on "treating all prisoners equally."

Woo also said the number of applications filed by district councilors to visit inmates - those arrested for social unrest participation in particular - surged 10 to 20 times.

"Earlier, the Correctional Services would grant the visits the district councilors applied for, but later they were found to have abused this right," Woo said.

He said there had been two cases involving district councilors smuggling items out of their institutions.

"From that time, district councilors and inmates have been separated by a glass partition during the visit, as well as because of the pandemic," he said.

"The Correctional Services will also require district councilors to give a valid reason for their visits so as to prove that it is related to affairs of his or her district council, otherwise their applications will not be granted."

On the capacity of various prisons, Woo said the Correctional Services Department has planned ahead in case of potential overcrowding.

"We have adopted different strategies in enhancing prison's capacity before the handover, we used bunk beds instead so create more space for those arrested for illegal immigration in a 200-person prison."

Woo, who received professional training for teachers at the Education University of Hong Kong, has been with the Correctional Services Department since 1989.

From February 1989 to December 2010, he served as Officer of the Correctional Services Department, and as Senior Superintendent of Correctional Services from January 2011 to April 2012. He was then Assistant Commissioner of Correction Services from May 2012 to July 2017.

From August 2017 to October 2018, he served as the Deputy Commissioner of Correctional Services, and has been the Commissioner of Correctional Services since November 2018.