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  • 2019-09-17 (xsd:date)
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  • This letter to Hong Kong police was not authorised by the Western Australia Police Force (en)
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  • A photo of a letter has been shared hundreds of times in multiple posts on Facebook and Weibo which claim it is a letter of support written by Western Australia Police to Hong Kong Police. The claim is false; t he Western Australia Police Force told AFP that the letter was not an official statement of support and that it had been issued without their knowledge or consent; the police badge shown on the letter is out of date. The photo was published in this Facebook post on August 27, 2019. It has been shared more than 470 times. The letter was purportedly written by someone who claims to be an anonymous former police officer speaking on behalf of past and present members of the Western Australian Police Force. The post's traditional Chinese language caption translates to English as: A letter of support written by Western Australia Police to Hong Kong Police! Great letter! Hong Kong Police have worked hard, hang in there! Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post: The letter itself is addressed To the Brave Officers of the Hong Kong Police, and reads in part: I am a former Police Officer and I am writing on behalf of a large group of serving former Police Officers of the Western Australia Police. We just want to let you know that we feel your pain and frustration during the very difficult time. We hurt when you hurt. We bleed when you bleed. When we see images of the violence committed against you, we feel helpless that we are unable to assist. The letter is signed: From your brothers and sisters in the Western Australia Police, past and present. Two police badges have been affixed to the bottom of the letter. The photo was also shared on Facebook here , here, here and here , as well as on Weibo here and here with a similar claim. The claim is false; the letter was not issued by Western Australia Police. In an email to AFP on August 29, 2019, a WA Police Force spokesperson said the letter was not issued by the organisation. The Western Australia Police Force has been made aware of social media posts that have published a letter of support for Hong Kong Police Officers, the statement reads. The anonymous author of this letter claims to speak as a former officer on behalf of other serving and former officers, and has supplied two shoulder patches that are no longer used by the WA Police Force. The WA Police Force wishes to clearly state that this letter is not from the WA Police Force. It was sent without the knowledge, consent or authority of the agency. While it is understood police officers will generally be interested in any policing matters, it is never the practice of the WA Police Force to comment on political matters, in particular those occurring outside its jurisdiction. The WA Police Force sent a current shoulder patch to AFP via email on September 10. A police spokesperson said the current patch has a wreath which is a soft sage colour. Below is a comparison between the shoulder patch which is attached to the letter in the misleading posts (L) and the photo of the current badge sent by the WA Police Force (R): Terry Goldsworthy , Associate Professor of Criminology at Bond University, viewed the letter and responded to AFP via email on September 4 that it would be highly unusual for a police service to send this type of letter. I note from the image attached that it is not from the Western Australian Police Service, but rather from an individual purporting to represent current and past members of the force, Goldsworthy said. (en)
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