The true picture of the workload of the Bureau cannot easily be illustrated as the handling of reported crime forms only a small part of its work. During the year, the squad undertook 274 investigations which resulted in 48 persons being charged with a total of 82 charges, but many of these persons have not yet appeared for trial. The unit has seized 17 firearms, five of which were stolen police revolvers, and recovered cash and valuables, representing the proceeds of thefts/burglaries/ robberies, to a total value of some $1 million.
In addition to this, as a result of investigation into a series of robberies, a seizure of forged US banknotes, with a face value of US$871,000, was made together with photographic negatives intended for printing forged notes of various denominations of Thai, Indonesian, US and HK currencies. This is believed to have been one of the biggest seizures in respect of currency forgeries ever made by the Force.
There were more attacks on police officers to steal their revolvers. Seven cases occurred during the year, of which one was solved by the unit, and another four stolen revolvers were recovered by other units. The remaining cases are of course receiving top priority. Meanwhile, it is comforting to note that all eight police revolvers stolen in 1976 have now been recovered.
Triad Society Bureau
During the latter part of the year an increasing number of reports appeared in the press regarding triad activity in various countries. These gave the impression that triad elements constitute a criminal syndicate of global propor- tion. This is sensationalism, and is simply not true.
Nevertheless, individual criminals and criminal groups here and elsewhere frequently use the triad name in order to engender fear; but there is no centralised control over such criminals. This is particularly apparent in Hong Kong where several cases have occurred involving fights between groups of persons claiming allegiance to the same triad society. These fights tend to be spontaneous; most take place over minor matters such as the occupation of seats in teahouses, unloading vehicles, working disputes, and so on. Many of them also arise when a triad member asks another person to identify himself as a fellow triad. Gang fights and similar incidents average around 40 a month, but only three or four involve disputes over 'territorial rights' and protection money. Indeed, most of the issues involved are trivial, a fact which illustrates that the average triad member is an unsophisticated petty thug.
It will thus be noticed that triads have come a long way from their historical raison d'etre, which was the lofty and patriotic aim of overthrowing the alien Ching Dynasty and restoring the indigenous Ming line. Today's triads the name refers to a mystic union of heaven, earth and man have been accurately described as common criminals masquerading in the name of a long dead giant.
Police action to counter the triad menace now includes a new and streamlined system of processing triad intelligence which became operational Force-wide on the first day of 1977. Designed for the exchange of intelligence on a need- to-know basis between headquarter, district and divisional formations and recorded at the Criminal Records Bureau, the system is proving invaluable as a basis for offensive action against criminal personalities and syndicates.
Duplication of police effort has been eliminated, and the progress of enquiries into major targets is monitored on a regular basis by a working group of senior CID officers. The reorganisation of the intelligence sys was followed in March by the mounting of a renewed ...tiative against triads.
Parameters of responsibility were re-defined, reinforce- ments drafted into anti-triad units at district and divisional level, and the approved working strength of the total Force anti-triad structure raised to around 500 officers. A short, but intensive, training programme administered by ex- perienced officers of the Triad Society Bureau was in- troduced for officers new to this type of duty.
Gambling and vice
An entirely new Gambling Ordinance was passed into law in mid-February which tightened up the law considerably and introduced stringent new penalties.
The Bureau during the year took action against all forms of illegal gambling and was largely instrumental in forcing out of business the large illegal telephone betting syndicates which were a feature of previous years. A massive operation conducted by the Bureau in May culminated in raids on more than 40 premises and the neutralisation of a syndicate which had been taking bets on the Macau greyhound races.
Bookmakers and bettors are now being fined an average of $10,000 and $500 respectively, 10 times heavier than fines generally imposed under the former ordinance, and many have decided that illegal gambling is no longer worth the risk.
The effectiveness of police action, combined with a new severity of sentencing, is underlined by the greatly in- creased income of the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club's totalisator.
Extortion is a typical triad activity, and is largely directed at the operators of public light buses and hawkers. The overall picture is showing signs of improvement, with the number of blackmail offences reported to police, or un- earthed by them, having fallen from an average of 400 a month in 1976 to 240 in 1977. 'Loan-sharking' is also a typical triad activity.
In the area of vice and pornography, a total of 185 raids conducted since the enactment of the Objectionable Publication Ordinance in August 1975 have resulted in the arrest of 255 persons and the seizure of large amounts of pornographic material. Following protracted enquiries, officers of the Bureau conducted raids on Hong Kong's most notorious blue movie/live sex show syndicate, result- ing in five persons being heavily fined in June, and the neutralisation of the syndicate. In February the importers of two 'soft pornography' magazines were heavily fined and their appeals were dismissed by the Full Court in September.
In March and October the Bureau arrested a number of foreign nationals for involvement in prostitution, with the first case resulting in the imprisonment of three local Chinese males who pleaded guilty to keeping a brothel, and the repatriation of three foreign females. The second case resulted in a male and four females being fined and repatriated after pleading guilty to various vice offences. Several successful prosecutions also were mounted during the year against publishers and vendors of objectionable items.
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