fight crime drives and recruiting. During the summer they organised a raffle in aid of the Po Leung Kuk. Thousands of members were mobilised, and in a week raised $8,000 which will be used by the Kuk to build a holiday camp for young people.
The raffle was part of a week-long series of events to mark JPC's third anniversary. Many messages of well- wishes were received from organisations around the world, including a personal note from H.R.H. Princess Alexandra, the Honorary Commandant-General of the Force.
In more concrete terms JPC members provided the police with assistance. As a result of information received from members a total of 19 persons were arrested for such diverse crimes as robbery, burglary, membership of triad societies, assult, possession and smoking of drugs, and blackmail. Other reports related to found property and missing vehicles.
Junior Police Call members and police joined forces to clear long grass from around a housing estate where a number of sex crimes had been committed.
During the year another clubhouse was provided. The weekly 'Junior Police Call' Chinese language television programme, together with three weekly news- paper columns and a weekly magazine, continued to attract considerable interest among members.
The Junior Police Call scheme is controlled from the Police Public Relations Bureau, but the on-the-ground operations are run by divisions, under divisional Police Community Relations Officers. They are helped con- siderably by the increasing number of JPC Leaders (now almost 2,000). The Leadership Scheme was introduced in 1976 to encourage older members and other young adults to volunteer as instructors and leaders of their younger club-mates.
Off Beat
The 12-page bilingual Force newspaper, with a circulation of 20,000, is published fortnightly, free of charge, and is primarily a house journal, designed to keep police and civilian staff and their families abreast of what is happening within the Force.
It also publicises outside events with a police or per- sonality interest.
However, in October and November when a group of Rank and File police officers protested over alleged in- vestigation methods employed by the Independent Com-
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mission Against Corruption, Off Beat became an important communications link between the Government, Police Headquarters and the man-on-the-beat.
The PPRB produced two special editions of the news- paper which were distributed to every policeman. The editions recapped on the situation, spelt out the current state of affairs and indicated the direction in which develop- ments were heading.
Police Community Relations Officers
The 16 Police Community Relations Officers in the Force are all experienced Chief Inspectors, whose main task is to establish close ties with community organisations such as City District Offices, Area Committees, Mutual Aid Committees, Kaifong Associations, schools, youth centres and clubs.
They attend meetings, social functions, meet with people and are regarded, not solely as law enforcement officers, but rather as friends and confidants who offer advice and guidance to local residents and business people.
They also play a big part in controlling JPC activities in their respective divisions and liaise closely with schools on crime prevention and road safety.
Planning and Research Division
The Planning and Research Division is the centralised unit responsible for all investigation and planning into the current and future needs of the Force in terms of resources, equipment and buildings. Examination of projects undertaken by the Division has revealed the need to expand and reorganise planning and research into a Management Services Unit, and a study is now being made to assess the requirements for such a unit.
It is expected to include, in addition to the present capability of the Division, an organisation and methods section, an enhanced centralised statistics section serving not only the Force but also the Judiciary, Prisons and the probation section of the Social Welfare Department, and a scientific research capability.
In its research projects, the Force has built up close liaison with many Government and private organisations and with universities. Officers have made visits to police forces and governmental organisations overseas and have studied a wide range of activities having a bearing on police operations. These visits have included the examination of developing technologies, some of which are unique in their conception.
The use of computerisation as a highly effective tool of modern management is well known, and the Force, with the aid of the facilities provided by the Government Data Processing Department, seeks to make full use of this technology. Plans have been made to extend computer processing to a wide variety of administrative and law enforcement application. Systems which are currently in use include:
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Personnel records (which is comprised of 24 different programmes).
A modus operandi index for the Criminal Investi- gation Department.
Police use of the Transport Department's com- puterised vehicle and drivers records.
The Command and Control system for the personal beat radio scheme.