LAW, ORDER AND RECORDS
189
they constitute the fourth largest city in the Commonwealth. There are 499 miles of roads in the Colony. Half of these are in urban areas and there are 48,890 registered vehicles. It reflects credit on both public and police that law and order are maintained and that traffic congestion is not worse.
In contrast with Victoria and Kowloon, the New Territories have a widely dispersed population. This, and the fact that there is a land frontier with China, impose special considerations not found in the urban areas. Police stationed in the New Territories have to associate themselves intimately with local community life and problems. Much has been achieved by the use of the village penetration patrols which spend a number of days in each area, living in the villages and giving advice and assistance where they can. It would be wrong, however, to consider the New Territories purely as a rural backcloth to the teeming urban areas, for as villages and quiet market towns have grown in the past ten years, urban-type policing has become necessary in some of the larger townships and industrial centres which they have become.
A population of this size is bound to reflect the political ideo- logies of surrounding territories. Incidents may flare up without warning and on slight pretext. This means that the Force has always to be ready to mobilize its emergency structure at short notice. The Triad Societies are a constant threat to law and order. First formed as secret patriotic societies in China some three centuries ago, they have degenerated into 'strong arm' gangs engaged in 'protection' and extortion rackets and other forms of crime. During the past year intense police activity continued against these groups and has largely suppressed the threat. There is still much to be done, however, before this menace is completely exterminated.
Bribery, corruption and narcotics continue to be major problems and exercise considerable influence over criminal activity in the Colony. The drive to suppress them was intensified. A Force Narcotics Committee was appointed under the Chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner of Police to co-ordinate all Police action against drug addiction and trafficking. Considerable publicity about the evil of drugs was directed to all ranks in the Force. Apart from lectures, each officer received a personal memorandum from the