the Juvenile Protection Office investigates complaints concerning possible exploitation of young people. The Of: is also responsible for the general collecting and collating of information regarding juvenile criminal activit on a Force-wide basis.
174. During the year, 1,556 juveniles appeared in court for various offences, representing 10.6 per cent of t total number of persons prosecuted, as against 9.6 per cent in the previous year. For the same period a total 192 juvenile first offenders were placed under police supervision under the juvenile liaison scheme. Only fɩ. were found to have committed any further offence.
-175. The pattern of juvenile crime during the year generally remained unchanged; offences against proper still provided the bulk, over 80 per cent of offences.
176. In the majority of cases the cause of juvenile misbehaviour is considered to have been a lack of prop:: parental control. In many cases this was unavoidable, and was linked to the necessity of both parents having work, and the child consequently being left to his or her own devices most of the time.
177. The Juvenile Protection Office continues to maintain the closest liaison with the Social Welfa:. Department and other linked voluntary agencies. In addition, officers of the Office regularly arrange lectures f: students, youth groups and other interested parties on juvenile delinquency.
Narcotics Bureau
178. The prevention and detection of offences connected with the unlawful manufacture, distribution ar consumption of narcotics within Hong Kong are the responsibility of the Police Force. The police maintain close liaison with the Preventive Service, which is responsible for detecting the illicit importation of narcotic: and with the Prisons Department and other branches of the government such as Medical and Health, Soci Welfare, Resettlement Housing Department and the Secretariat for Home Affairs.
179. Police policy on narcotics is directed by a committee under the chairmanship of the Deputy Com missioner of Police (Operations), which meets at regular intervals to assess intelligence, to establish and direc effective measures and to co-ordinate action throughout the Force. The Commissioner of Police is also represented on various other committees convened by the government to consider narcotic problems.
180. The Narcotics Bureau, under the direction of a Chief Superintendent of Police, who is responsible i the Director of Criminal Investigation, serves as an intelligence centre for the collection and collation ci information on narcotics both in Hong Kong and overseas. It is in close liaison with narcotic suppressie: agencies throughout the world. Parties of officers from Japan, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, South Vietnam. the Philippines, the U.K. and the U.S.A. visited the Bureau during the year, and were briefed on Hong Kong narcotic problems. In many cases, they saw at first hand the work of the police in narcotics law enforcement During the year too, the Commissioner of Police and the Commissioner for Narcotics attended the 41st Interga General Assembly in West Germany, where good liaison was established with overseas countries interested narcotics law enforcement.
181. Police action is implemented at different levels within the territory. The Narcotics Bureau is primaril engaged in the investigation of cases which demand specialist and protracted observation and enquiries, such as the suppression of highly organized syndicates, which because of elaborate security measures on the part of the organizers defy detection by routine measures. District headquarter squads of the four District headquarters operate against special targets affecting distribution and consumption. At divisional level, vice squads are concerned with the control of peddling and consumption of drugs, although the prevention and detection c narcotic offences is a general duty imposed on all police officers.
182. During the year, a total of 19,836 narcotic offences of all types were detected, which compared with 16,745 for the previous year.
183. Three large seizures of narcotics were made during the year. The first of these resulted in the seizure of 807.16 kilos of raw opium and 70.502 kilos of morphine from a motor junk berthed alongside the New Przyz near Sai Cheung Street. Four persons were arrested in this case, three being sentenced to periods of imprisonmer:. The second success occurred on the 26th September, 1972, when 1,170.49 kilos of raw opium and 156. 79 kilos ei l morphine were seized from a motor junk in the area of Tsuen Wan. Two persons were arrested. The fina seizure, after a period of extensive police surveillance, resulted in the arrest of four men and the seizure of 1,060.0 kilos of raw opium and 107.55 kilos of morphine from a lighter in the vicinity of Yaumati Typhoon Shelter ez the 10th November, 1972.
184. Heroin factories were detected on seven occasions, one of the cases being the largest on record, when 15.9491 kilos of heroin and 20.4173 kilos of morphine were seized from a residential flat in Kowloon, in Apri
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TEAM MEEREENSM IN TAL WOWSELAFREI LA