Witness protection

Witness protection is protection of a threatened witness involved in the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require protection until the conclusion of a trial, some witnesses are provided with a new identity and may live out the rest of their lives under government protection.

Witness protection is usually required in trials against organized crime, where law enforcement sees a risk for witnesses to be intimidated by colleagues of defendants. It is also used at war crime trials.

Not all countries have formal witness protection programs; instead, local police may implement informal protection as the need arises in specific cases.

Canada's Witness Protection Program Act became law when it was signed on June 20, 1996 by then Governor General Roméo LeBlanc.

Multiple disciplined service under the Security Bureau of Hong Kong had specialized units provide protection for witnesses and their families that came to posing threats to their life.

The units are notably Witness Protection Unit (WPU) of the Hong Kong Police Force, Witness Protection and Firearms Section (R4) of ICAC and the similar section to the WPU of the HK Customs.

The members of these units undergo training in mostly tactics of protection, firearms, self-defence, physical and tactical training and they are mostly trained in the use of, and issued, the Glock 19 compact handgun as sidearm. The standard Glock 17 or the long arms such as the Heckler & Koch MP5 sub-machine gun or the Remington Model 870 shotgun maybe issued if the witness are posed to bigger threats.

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