POLICE
The territory of the Colony comprises heavily populated urban areas as well as tracts of rural country, both hilly and flat, with scattered village communities, and the surrounding territorial waters, and the ever increasing population, though predominantly Chinese, is cosmopolitan and comprises all strata of society. Police duties are therefore manifold and widely
widely varied. Moreover the peculiar geographical situation of Hong Kong, having a common land and sea frontier with China, poses political and other problems which frequently add to the difficulties of Police action. Despite this the Colony has had a year of comparative serenity, and although Police buildings and equipment are still short of requirements, definite progress has been made and there has been a marked improvement in both man-power and material.
Organisation and Composition of the Police Force
Primarily the Force is divided into a Headquarters and two Branches, the Uniformed Branch and the C.I.D.
The Uniformed Branch comprises two territorial districts, which are subdivided into seven territorial divisions, the Traffic Branch, the Marine Police, and the Communications Branch. In addition there are certain task forces, such as Emergency Units, Water Front Searching Unit, Railway Police Unit, Hawker Squad, and Village Penetration Patrols in the New Territories.
The Marine Police has a fleet of 21 vessels ranging from ocean tugs to motor boats, all fitted with radio telephony. Six new landing craft with outboard motors are on order. During the year the Marine Police has co-operated to a considerable extent with the Royal Navy and the Commando Brigade and successful raids against armed men on outlying islands have also been carried out.
The C.I.D. comprises the Detective Branch and the Special Branch. The former has its Identification Bureau, Records and Statistics office, Forensic Laboratory, and specialist sections such as Commercial Crime, Anti-Corruption, and Homicide Squad. The Special Branch is responsible for the prevention and detection of all activities subversive of peace and good order and also operates the Immigration Department, Registry of Aliens and Registration of Societies.
The authorised establishment of the Police Force was 3,911 the actual strength at the end of 1949 being 3,477. The Force is composed of 42 Gazetted officers, 365 Inspectorate (240 expatriate and 125 non-expatriate includ- ing 1 Woman Sub-Inspector), 484 Shantung Police, who are recruited because of their superior physique, 2,462
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