居港英国人、香港退休高级警司林占士（James Elms）将我们的思绪带回25年前，带我们回忆了香港警队一路发展的历史与变迁。

拥有33年警察生涯的林占士退休前是香港警队的高级警司。回忆起香港回归那天时说，当时他还在辅助警察队，接到通知说7月1日零点就要把警帽上的警徽换掉。

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动， 因为他们觉得步入一个新的时代。但是后来我们发现，警队执行的职务还是和从前一样，回归前后都是差不多的。”林占士说。

"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.

林占士还展示了一些特别的物件。他于1964年加入香港警队，那时警队还是以英国在位君主的皇冠作为徽号。1968年后，香港警队被授予皇家头衔，变为香港皇家警察。

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".

香港回归后，则换成了现在的香港特别行政区警队警徽。女皇皇冠为香港特区区徽所取代，“香港皇家警察”变为“香港警察”，皇冠变成了美丽的紫荆花。

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.

这些不同的警徽象征了香港不同时代历史的变迁。

1997年前林占士曾被“劝说”，甚至是“威胁”离开香港，因为这些人相信在回归后，自己会被中国政府“严惩”。 “我跟他们说，全世界都可能希望香港回归后走向没落， 只有一个国家它绝对不会，那就是中国。我很庆幸，我做了正确的选择。 ”

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."

退休后林占士一直在学习。他学习了商业社会如何运作，学习如何管理一个私营的机构。 他也尝试从原本相对严格 、守纪的环境中养成的习惯改变，到不同的环境中实践。 他常说他很感恩，也会一直学习下去。

来源：中国日报香港版