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work was initiated on the provision of a new support service to the police. The year also saw continued progress in forensic blood-grouping work as well as research on gunshot residues; and installation of a Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer has allowed the division to expand appreciably its capacity in supporting the fight against crime.
Correctional Services
Comprehensive treatment and training programmes have been developed to suit the different types of offenders sentenced to correctional institutions administered by the Correctional Services Department. The department currently provides appropriate services for young offenders, drug addicts, first offenders and recidivists, and administers 20 correctional institutions, three halfway houses, a Staff Training Institute and an Escort Unit, with an establishment of 5 860 uniformed staff and 534 non-uniformed staff. There is a capacity for 9 397 inmates, and the average daily population in 1985 was 7 969 compared with 7 895 in 1984. In addition, the department is responsible for managing closed centres housing Vietnamese refugees. The staff in these centres, with the exception of the senior management, have been specially recruited, and trained only to look after refugees. They have no previous experience in connection with prisons or prisoners.
Adult Male Offenders
Prisoners are assigned to an institution dependent upon their security rating, which takes into account the risk they pose to the community and whether or not they are first offenders. Care is taken to separate recidivists from first offenders.
Eleven prisons accommodate adult male prisoners, four being maximum security institu- tions. Stanley Prison and Shek Pik Prison house prisoners serving long sentences including those sentenced to life imprisonment. Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre accommodates the criminally insane and those requiring psychiatric treatment, while adult males awaiting trial or remanded in custody during court hearing are detained at Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre. The few male civil debtors who are occasionally admitted are held in a separate section at Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre.
Ma Po Ping Prison, Tung Tau Correctional Institution and Victoria Prison function as medium security institutions for male offenders. In addition to its role as a prison, Victoria Prison also houses illegal immigrants pending repatriation to China, persons arrested mainly in the urban area for immigration offences, and a small number of Vietnamese refugees.
Four institutions are designated as minimum security prisons and they are used to hold prisoners who work outside the institution, usually on community projects. A special section within Ma Hang Prison has been set aside for geriatric prisoners. In this unit, those certified by the medical officer to be clinically old are accommodated in a less demanding environment. The ones who are medically fit are required to work on light industrial tasks or gardening, while the incapacitated may be put in hospital.
Young Male Offenders
Young offenders in the department's custody are persons whose ages range from 14 to 20. After sentence by a court, they follow correctional programmes either in a prison, training centre, drug addiction treatment centre or a detention centre. In 1985, there were 1 125 young offenders in custody compared with 1 203 in 1984.
There is a maximum security institution for young offenders at Pik Uk Correctional Institution which functions as a reception centre, prison and training centre for the more