PUBLIC ORDER
115
Recruitment at the constable level was disappointing during the first seven months of the year. A recruiting campaign in July-August, which coincided with a service-wide increase in salary of eight per cent announced in August, resulted in an appreciable improvement. But, compared with the number of vacancies, suitable candidates were still not forthcoming in sufficient numbers.
Considerable attention was paid during the year to the career-package offered to the would-be recruit which culminated in greatly improved salary scales. Enhanced entry points for candidates with better than minimum educational standards, were introduced on November 1. A further recruiting campaign was mounted shortly after the announcement of the revised salary scale. The results were most encouraging and at the end of the year 1,171 men and 141 women had been taken on as police con- stables. Of this total, 336 men and 34 women joined before June 30, 537 men and 74 women joined between July 1 and October 31, and 298 men and 33 women joined in the last two months of the year. On December 31 there were 696 applications for appointment under consideration.
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The Police Training School conducts in-service courses for serving officers in addition to training new recruits. These are designed to refresh and up-date knowledge of law and police procedures and to develop leadership, self-confidence and team- work.
Off-Beat
The police newspaper 'Off-Beat' was launched at the beginning of the year and 12 months later had established itself as an interesting and popular addition to the establishment. It has a regular fortnightly circulation of 18,000 which has been in- creased to 100,000 when breaking an important news item of interest to the community of Hong Kong as a whole.
'Off-Beat' is printed in both Chinese and English and covers a wide variety of personal and operational news. Its most important function is to independently represent the policemen and policewomen which it serves.
Prisons
Hong Kong has a progressive penal system with separate institutions providing programmes for young offenders under 21, convicted persons who are found to be addicted to dangerous drugs, and prisoners in minimum security and maximum security institutions. The large number of convicted persons found to be drug addicts continues to present a challenge to the service. Crime stemming from addiction plays a large part in the rate of habitual relapse into crime. The increase in violent crime, particularly among young offenders, and the increase in gang triad activity, has been noticeable.
The Commissioner of Prisons is responsible for the overall administration of 13 institutions. These include security prisons, an open prison, a psychiatric centre, training and detention centres for young offenders, and drug addiction treatment centres. There is also an extensive aftercare system and a Staff Training Institution.
URBAN COUNCIL P: 'BLIC LIBRARIES