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Other anti-crime fronts were not neglected. Emphasis was placed on home security, anti-shoptheft and the phased expansion of the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme.
The scheme continued to be well-received by the community. Two more phases were launched during the year, bringing to 63 506 the total number of participating families in the four phases completed since the scheme began in 1984.
With enhanced public awareness of home security and the success of the scheme, the number of burglaries in 1987 continued to decline.
Junior Police Call (JPC) – one of the largest police-youth organisations in the world has kept on growing and developing. About 3 000 youngsters applied each month to join the JPC, and the total number who have joined the movement since its inception in 1974 now stands at over 466 700. As well as providing healthy recreational pursuits for its young members, the movement is involved in raising funds for charity, and members take part in a wide variety of community programmes. To commemorate the outstanding performance of JPC members in community service, an award scheme, sponsored by a leading bank, is held each year to select the best member, leader, council and school club in the movement.
A territory-wide campaign based on the theme 'Care for the Elderly', was launched during the year. The campaign was aimed at promoting, among the younger generation, an awareness of the problems of the elderly by fostering greater respect for old people in Hong Kong. It was strongly supported by the community.
Another means of encouraging public support in the fight against crime is the 'Good Citizens Award Scheme', in which those who actively help in arresting criminals are given cash awards. During the year, 97 Good Citizens received awards totalling $158,000. The Good Citizen of the Year Award, which was introduced in 1985 for outstanding efforts by members of the public, continued to attract nominations, and one such award was made during the year. The readiness of the public, as a whole, to co-operate with the police was illustrated by the fact that 4 547 criminals were actually arrested by members of the public. This represented 12.1 per cent of the total arrest. The public also continued to make full use of the police ‘hotline' telephone to pass on crime information. The number of criminals arrested as a direct result of hotline information reached the 5 700-mark by September 1987.
Television programmes jointly produced by the Police Public Relations Branch (PPRB) and Radio Television Hong Kong continued to prove popular, and ‘Crimewatch', the pro- gramme which features re-enactments of actual crimes and asks for assistance from the public, has proved to be a great success, both in terms of viewing figures and audience response. 'Police 15', a 15-minute programme, aired on the Chinese channels every week and which offers simple crime prevention advice as well as asks for witnesses to crime to come forward, reached its 11th anniversary in October.
Training
Facilities at the Police Training School were further expanded and improved to meet increasing demand. Recruit inspectors continued to undergo a 36-week course and recruit constables began their career with a 22-week course. The courses covered criminal law, social studies, police and court procedures, drill and musketry, first aid and, for overseas inspectors, an eight-week course in colloquial Cantonese. Recruit traffic wardens under- went a six-week course covering traffic legislation and procedures. The wide range of specialist and continuation training continued.