PUBLIC ORDER
issuing of permits to persons who undertake security work. Most of its provisions began operating in June 1995. The application period for security permits and licences began in November 1995.
The committee has devoted much of its attention to the problem of juvenile crime. In September 1992, a sub-committee of the Fight Crime Committee commissioned the research team of the Social Science Research Centre of the University of Hong Kong to conduct a study into the social causes of juvenile crime. The research was completed in January 1995 and a report on social causes of juvenile crime was endorsed by the committee in April and released in May 1995. The report was distributed to district boards, District Fight Crime Committees, the Legislative Panel on Security, relevant government departments and other interested organisations. The recommendations drawn from these findings coincide with most of the existing government policies and services for juvenile delinquents.
Under the auspices of the Fight Crime Committee, Crime Victimisation Surveys (CVS) were conducted by the Census and Statistics Department in 1979, 1982, 1987 and 1990, respectively. The fifth round of CVS was conducted in January 1995 and a report was issued in September 1995 after endorsement by the committee. The survey findings give the government a separate source of information for planning anti-crime strategies and crime prevention measures, as well as assessing the level of success in encouraging the public to report crime.
The Fight Crime Committee endorsed a recommendation to extend the Police Superintendent's Discretion Scheme to allow juveniles who have committed minor drug offences for the first time to be cautioned instead of prosecuted. This aims to rehabilitate juveniles who have committed minor drug offences, and facilitates close supervision of these juvenile offenders by giving them access to aftercare programmes.
The Fight Crime Committee also monitored the progress of the six-month Neighbourhood Watch Trial Schemes which started in late 1994 in Mong Kok, Tuen Mun and Yuen Long. The schemes were based on the idea of self-help; namely, the mobilisation of the public to combat crime, especially burglaries in residential premises, through activities such as organising mutual aid groups and reporting suspicious activities to the Police. In April 1995, the committee noted that the schemes had met with an enthusiastic public response in all three districts, and endorsed a proposal to extend the schemes for another six months.
District Fight Crime Committees continued to play an important role. They monitored the crime situation in their districts, and helped foster both community. awareness of the need to prevent crime and community participation in combating crime. In September 1995, the committee endorsed the recommendation of the Action Committee Against Narcotics to make explicit reference to drugs in the terms of reference of the District Fight Crime Committees.
Police Force
Continued co-operation between the Royal Hong Kong Police and their mainland counterparts was evidenced in the successful joint operations and investigations conducted during the year. These operations not only resulted in the recovery of stolen vehicles and a reduction in smuggling activities, the success of mutual co- operation was epitomised in the prompt apprehension of a gang of armed robbers
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