By the end of 1976 the overall strength of CID had in- creased to 2,686, representing 13.7 per cent of Force man- power. When present restructuring and strengthening projects are completed over the next two years, the depart- ment will have some 4,200 police and civilian officers.
Special Operations Group
The Special Operations Group comprises the Homicide Squad and the Special Crimes Squad, and plans are well advanced to embrace the existing Triad Society Bureau and further to expand the criminal intelligence capability.
Homicide Squad
The squad is responsible for investigating homicides of a complex nature and which necessitate protracted enquiries. By the end of 1976, expansion plans were being formulated to enable it to assume a heavier workload.
During the year, 13 investigations were undertaken, 10 of which were brought to a successful conclusion. The remaining three remain under investigation.
Special Crimes Squad
The charter of the Special Crimes Squad is to investigate cases of 'special' importance, the term being capable of a relatively broad interpretation - determing factors perhaps being the value of property stolen, the ingenuity of the criminals, the brutality displayed, political or social implica- tions, territory-wide or international nature, or any other unusual features. Expansion plans are in hand to strengthen the squad and to extend its role to include all robberies in- volving the use of firearms, and all robberies and burglaries where the value of the property stolen is in excess of $250,000.
It has been found that crimes investigated by the unit are usually perpetrated by organised gangs and not casual robbers. Indeed, experience has shown that some of these criminals, although fairly loosely organised, are sophisticated planners. They are security conscious and trust only those known to themselves, usually through a common ethnic origin. They have access to firearms and are prepared to use extreme violence.
In combatting criminal strategies of this nature, accurate tactical intelligence is vital and a small but specialised section was formed within the unit for this purpose. The section has already proved its worth in contributing to a number of successful cases in identifying target personalities for investigations.
A true picture of the workload of the unit cannot be clearly conveyed by statistics since reported crime forms only a small part of its work, much of the effort being directed at development of single major cases. Neverthless, during the year, the squad brought 11 cases to a successful conclusion and continued investigating 14 more.
Triad Society Bureau
Much has been written recently about the modern-day triads in Hong Kong and elsewhere. Irrespective of whether a gang is a real or psuedo triad organisation, or merely a group of thugs, they are a menace to society. Any dis- tinguished background or patriotic aims have long dis- appeared, just as central control has been dissipated. The result has been a proliferation of inter-group disputes over
'territorial rights' or spheres of influence, thus increasing violence and danger to the community.
In spite of fragmentation and lack of central control, there is a degree of organisation in gang activity reflected in Hong Kong's organised crime. The charter of the Triad Society Bureau is to neutralise and prosecute triad elements in conjunction with anti-triad units in districts and divisions. The central bureau concentrates on territory-wide triad activities and high-level targets and, additionally, monitors and co-ordinates the total Force effort.
In order to meet its increasing commitments, the establishment of the bureau rose from 87 to 189 officers during 1976.
Improved criminal intelligence aided operations of the bureau, resulting in successes over a wide field. Major successes against organised gambling included:
the first prosecution in Hong Kong of a syndicate head and his aides for 'conspiracy to keep a common gaming house', thus eliminating the largest illegal bookmaking syndicate in Hong Kong
the neutralisation of a large telephone communica- tions network which relayed information on dog races between Macau, where the races are held, and Hong Kong
a suspension of the illegal Tze Fa lottery, by the publication of the Gambling (Amendment) Bill of 1976
The decreases in illegal bookmaking are reflected, in part, by a greatly increased turnover in lawful betting conducted by the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club.
Similarly, intensified action and revised strategies brought about a considerable reduction in the number of organised vice establishments and syndicates. The anticipated enact- ment of the Crimes (Amendment) Bill in 1977, which increases penalties for various types of sexual offences and covers vice establishments now outside the law, will, hope- fully, lead to further successes.
The 4,061 prosecutions made during 1976 for offences under the Societies Ordinance further reflected the vigorous action against organised gangs and illegal societies.
In spite of all these efforts, triad criminals remain deeply involved in organised crime in various forms and are un- likely to relinquish their profitable activities without further struggle.
In addition to the progress made, much ground work has been achieved to set the scene for greater effort and progress during 1977, including encouragement to the community to unmask this major threat to the security of Hong Kong.
Commercial Crimes Office
The prominence of Hong Kong as an industrial and financial centre has inevitably attracted a large and cosmopolitan business and financial community. Equally inevitable has been the attraction of unscrupulous criminal and business operators who have tried, and will continue to try, to take advantage of Hong Kong's thriving economy and the very reasonable controls imposed on financial and business transactions. This situation gives rise to a large and specialised policing commitment which is the responsibility of the Commercial Crimes Office.
In order to meet the increased number of investigations, particularly those concerned with certain public companies, the need to expand its resources and improve its facilities
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