Hong Kong Police Band

Hong Kong Police Band
Hong Kong Police Band
Agency overview
Formed	1954
Preceding agency	HKPB, Hong Kong Police Silver Band;
Employees	84 officers (60 from Silver Band and 24 from Pipe Band)
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	Hong Kong
General nature	Civilian police;
Operational structure
Headquarters	Peter Moor Building, Aberdeen Campus, Hong Kong Police College

The Hong Kong Police Band (Abbreviation: HKPB; Chinese: 香港警察樂隊) is a ceremonial unit and a police band of the Hong Kong Police Force and is used for official events. It was established in 1954 and initially performed with the Hong Kong Police Silver Band (formed in 1951). Both bands merged to form a single band and was later renamed the Royal Hong Kong Police Pipe Band.

The Pipe Band colours is the and was adopted in memory of a former Commissioner of Police, Mr , after which the MacIntosh Forts were also named.^[1]

Organisation[]

The band has 84 members, made up of 60 from the Silver Band (regular ceremonial band) and 24 from the Pipe Band. The Auxiliary Police also has an Auxiliary Police Band that participates in parades with the regular pipe band. The Hong Kong Police Band is based at the Peter Moor Building, School of Foundation Training, Hong Kong Police College. It has barracks, practice rooms, offices, and musical instruments at Peter Moor Building.^[2]

History[]

The Hong Kong Police Band began in 1951, when Superintendent W. B. Foster MBE led 21 people, organized in a silver band, to perform at routine police events, followed by performances due to increasing demand. Later in 1954 the silver band was merged with the drum band to form the Hong Kong Police Band. On May 30 and July 1, 2011, in order to mark the 14th anniversary of the reunification of Hong Kong, the police band made its first performance with the Central Military Band of the People's Liberation Army of China and held a large-scale symphony orchestra concert at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium.^[3]

In December 2016, the band received training from instructors from the Army School of Ceremonial at the British Army's Infantry Training Centre.^[4]