PUBLIC ORDER
252
Crime Information
The Criminal Records Bureau is the sole repository for criminal records in Hong Kong. It houses complete records on all persons convicted of crime in the territory.
The records and indices held by the bureau comprise details of persons wanted, suspected offenders, missing persons, stolen property, outstanding warrants and missing vehicles. Currently the indices hold particulars of some 551 612 criminal records, 12 225 wanted persons, 2551 missing persons, 9613 outstanding warrants and 602 missing vehicles. During 1992, the Enhanced Police Operational Nominal Index Computer System (EPONICS) dealt with a total of 2 601 141 enquiries. —_
Ballistics and Firearms Identification
The Ballistics and Firearms Identification Bureau handled 338 cases in 1992, compared with 344 in 1991. A total of 56 commercially-manufactured firearms and three homemade and converted firearms were seized.
Fully-automatic weapons were used by criminals in a number of shooting incidents; a Polish assault rifle and a Polish sub-machine-gun were seized in related successful operations against armed gangs. Examination of these weapons showed that both firearms had been used in previous criminal shooting incidents in the territory.
Identification
The Identification Bureau continued to provide an efficient service to all units in the Force in fingerprint technology and forensic photography.
The Phase I computerisation of fingerprint identification proved effective. A total of 555 fingerprint identifications were achieved in the year. A feasibility study on the Phase II of the project was being carried out.
During the year, officers from the Scenes of Crime Section attended 25 069 crime scenes to examine traces of finger, palm and sole prints, resulting in 1 140 persons being identified as having connection with 1 220 criminal cases.
The Main Fingerprint Collection processed 99 351 arrest fingerprint forms and identified 34 846 persons with previous convictions.
Interpol
The Hong Kong National Central Bureau of the International Criminal Police Organ- isation, more commonly known as Interpol, is one of the most active members in the South-East Asian region. It handles an average of some 8 000 cases of crimes of various nature every year, including deportations and extraditions.
The bureau acts as a co-ordination centre in dealing with criminal information and associated enquiries between Hong Kong and the rest of the world, and disseminates information on behalf of the formations within the Force to participating countries. It also maintains close liaison with local consulate officials.
Two officers are seconded to the Interpol General Secretariat in Lyons, France, and close liaison with the secretariat is thereby maintained. In recent years, contacts with China have increased markedly, and an additional post, established at superintendent level, was created in October 1991 to cope with the increasing volume of work generated.