居港英國人、香港退休高級警司林占士（James Elms）將我們的思緒帶回25年前，帶我們回憶了香港警隊一路發展的歷史與變遷。

擁有33年警察生涯的林占士退休前是香港警隊的高級警司。回憶起香港回歸那天時說，當時他還在輔助警察隊，接到通知說7月1日零點就要把警帽上的警徽換掉。

After 33 years of service on the Force, Elms retired at the rank of senior superintendent. While recalling memories of July 1, 1997, Elms said he was an auxiliary police, and was told that on the stroke of midnight the force were to change their cap badges.

“我的同事中有些人非常激動， 因為他們覺得步入一個新的時代。但是後來我們發現，警隊執行的職務還是和從前一樣，回歸前後都是差不多的。”林占士說。

"Some of them said that it was rather emotional, because it was like stepping into something else. Although by and large, I think after that, everything settled down and we more or less did the job as it was," Elms said.

林占士還展示了一些特別的物件。他於1964年加入香港警隊，那時警隊還是以英國在位君主的皇冠作為徽號。1968年後，香港警隊被授予皇家頭銜，變為香港皇家警察。

Elms shares special keepsakes —— badges from different times as a police officer in Hong Kong. When he joined the force in 1964, the cap badge was still bore the crown of the reigning British monarch as its emblem. In 1968, the police were granted with the title "Royal Hong Kong Police".

香港回歸後，則換成了現在的香港特別行政區警隊警徽。女皇皇冠為香港特區區徽所取代，“香港皇家警察”變為“香港警察”，皇冠變成了美麗的紫荊花。

After June 30, 1997, the badge evolved to its current iteration of the Hong Kong SAR police. The Queen's crown was replaced with the Hong Kong SAR emblem. The "Royal Hong Kong Police Force" became the "Hong Kong Police", and the crown was replaced by a beautiful bauhinia.

這些不同的警徽象徵了香港不同時代歷史的變遷。

1997年前林占士曾被“勸說”，甚至是“威脅”離開香港，因為這些人相信在回歸後，自己會被中國政府“嚴懲”。 “我跟他們說，全世界都可能希望香港回歸後走向沒落， 只有一個國家它絕對不會，那就是中國。我很慶幸，我做了正確的選擇。 ”

Before 1997, Elms was encouraged, almost even threatened to leave Hong Kong, as someone believed he would be punished after Hong Kong returned to China. Elms had also saw many of his friends leaving the city before 1997.

"I said, 'Look here, my friends, the whole world might want Hong Kong to fail after 1997. There is one country that would not want Hong Kong to fail, and that’s China.' I'm glad to say, I've been proven right."

退休後林占士一直在學習。他學習了商業社會如何運作，學習如何管理一個私營的機構。 他也嘗試從原本相對嚴格 、守紀的環境中養成的習慣改變，到不同的環境中實踐。 他常說他很感恩，也會一直學習下去。

來源：中國日報香港版