The Public Security Police Force Band (

Abbreviation An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening (linguistics), shortening, contraction (grammar), contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened for ...

: PSP Band; , ) is a police band of the

Public Security Police Force of Macau The Public Security Police Force (; , abbreviated ) is the non-criminal police department of Macau and a branch of the Macau Security Force. Originally known at first as the Macau Police (), the force went through several name changes before ...

used for public ceremonies in the

Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China Macau or Macao is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most densely populated region in the world. Formerly a Portuguese colony, the ter ...

. It's composed of 44 police officers and supports all community events. It is a military-style band with roots in its Portuguese past.

History

In the 19th century, privately organized police and military bands were organized by the uniformed authorities of the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...

who used Macau as a colony. In 1871, the Infantry Battalion Band gained more importance with its increasing schedule. In the later part of the century, police bands consisted of 40 musicians that included performers of various levels, buglers and assistant buglers, apprentice musicians and the conductors. This changed by the 1920s when these bands were decreased to just 26 personnel. The PSP Band was created on 1 April 1951 under Luis Augusto de Matos Paletti as its director. It was composed of men who ranged from 17 to 20 years of age and had just finished their studies school at the

Instituto Salesiano Instituto Salesiano (or IS, Instituto Salesiano da Imaculada Conceição, ) is a Catholic elementary school through secondary school in São Lourenço (St. Lawrence's Parish), Macau. The school is one of the oldest educational institutions found ...

. In 1958, Captain Dias da Silva ordered the band be expanded to 75 musicians. As a result of further restructuring of the PSP in early 1981, the band became a recipient of official musical training. In 1999, it was transferred from the authority of the

Republic of Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, as per the planned

Transfer of sovereignty over Macau The handover of Macau from the Portuguese Republic to the People's Republic of China was at midnight on 20 December 1999. This event ended 442 years of Portuguese rule in the former settlement, which began in 1557. Macau was settled by Por ...

. During the events on the day of the transfer, the band took part in the lowering of the

Portuguese flag The national flag of the Portuguese Republic, often referred to as the Portuguese flag consists of a rectangular bicolour with a field divided into green on the hoist, and red on the fly. The version without laurels of the country’s nationa ...

as well as the performance of ''

A Portuguesa "" (; ) is the national anthem of Portugal. It was composed by Alfredo Keil and written by Henrique Lopes de Mendonça during the resurgent Nationalism, nationalist movement ignited by the 1890 British Ultimatum to Portugal concerning its Afric ...

'' for the final time. In 2004, it was awarded the Dedication Medal (''Medalha de Dedicação'') by order of

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Edmund Ho Edmund Ho Hau Wah, GML, GCM, GOIH (born 13 March 1955) is a Macau politician who served as the first Chief Executive of the Macau Special Administrative Region from 1999 to 2009. He currently serves as a Vice-Chairman of the Chinese Peopl ...

. When

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...

visited Macau in 2019 for its 20th anniversary, the band performed for his arrival at

Macau International Airport Macau International Airport is an international airport in the special administrative region of Macau, situated at the eastern end of Taipa island and neighbouring waters. It opened for commercial operations on 9 November 1995, during Portu ...

References

{{Reflist

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

Chinese military bands 1951 establishments in Macau Musical groups established in 1951