PUBLIC ORDER
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During the year, the committee endorsed 3 620 complaint cases, after being satisfied that each case had been thoroughly and impartially investigated by CAPO. Arising from the reviewing of these complaint cases, the committee proposed a number of changes to police practices, procedures and instructions, with a view to improving the overall effectiveness. of the complaint system and assisting the Commissioner of Police in minimising public complaints against the police.
Independent Commission Against Corruption
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) fights corruption on three fronts: investigation, prevention and education.
The ICAC completed its eighth mass survey on attitudes and perceptions of the general public towards corruption and the commission. Compared with findings in past surveys since 1977, the 1990 survey showed a continuation of respondents' perception that the government was becoming less corrupt. This contrasted with a perceived rising level of corruption in the business sector, with over three-fifths of the respondents perceiving the use of illegal commissions as prevalent. About one-fifth of the respondents also perceived that the level of corruption in Hong Kong would increase in the next few years.
The ICAC is independent of the Civil Service and the commissioner is directly responsible to the Governor. The commission is however subject to external advice and - monitoring. The Advisory Committee on Corruption, whose members include leading citizens and senior government officials, provides guidance on policy matters. Each of the three functional departments of the commission - Operations, Corruption Prevention and Community Relations is also guided by an advisory body with members drawn from various sectors of the community. Complaints against the commission are handled by the ICAC Complaints Committee comprising seven members of the Executive and Legislative Councils, the Attorney General and the Commissioner for Administrative Complaints. In all, 10 such complaints received during the year were thoroughly investigated.
Operations
The Operations Department is the investigative arm of the commission. It receives and investigates reports of suspected offences under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, the ICAC Ordinance and the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Ordinance.
During the year, the department received 2 400 allegations of corruption, the majority of which were from members of the public who either visited or telephoned the commission's offices. Sixty-six per cent of those making reports identified themselves while the rest did so anonymously.
Prosecutions instituted, or continued from 1989, resulted in 201 convictions. In addition, 99 people were cautioned for lesser breaches of the law. At the end of the year 125 cases were awaiting trial and 817 investigations were still in progress.
Apart from reporting their suspicions and fears of corruption, the public regards the department as a conduit for general grievances and a source of assistance. In 1990, the department received 1 121 reports which were not corruption-related and of these 755 were referred to other government departments for action.
The ongoing experiment on video-taping interviews of suspects saw the introduction of a number of refinements - both technical and procedural. The training of ICAC investigators in interviewing techniques is now part of their basic training. Other disciplined services