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catering support at emergency turn-outs, such as disturbances at Vietnamese Migrant camps/detention centres, and for major operations and crowd control duties.
The Police Welfare Fund has been the major source of finance for all welfare activities within the Force. Its income mainly comes from donations of the general public and hire of police service. In all, 1 737 children of regular and auxiliary police officers were awarded bursaries from the two police education trusts to pursue further education.
Force Housing
The Force manages a total of 11 875 quarters, of which 10 905 are for Junior Police Officers and 970 are for Inspectorate officers. These include 429 newly-built quarters at Wong Tai Sin. As a result of redevelopment of sites in Hollywood and Canton Roads, 808 new quarters at Chai Wan and Ngau Chi Wan will be provided to the Force as replacements. Construction is under way and scheduled for completion by early 1997. In 1995–96, the Force was again allocated 458 units under the Disciplined Services Quota of the Government Public Housing Scheme. Alternative sources of accommodation which remain open to eligible junior police officers include the Home Purchase Scheme, Housing Loan Scheme, Home Ownership Scheme and Home Purchase Loan Scheme.
The policy to provide housing for all eligible married police officers, including those in the Inspectorate and Superintendent cadres, has continued to be progressively implemented. Every effort is being made to acquire more quarters of higher grading, rather than opting for sheer numbers.
The refurbishment programme aims at improving the overall living condition of police officers. Since the introduction of the scheme in 1987, 1 874 quarters have been refurbished, resulting in a marked improvement in the structural condition and standard of these old residences.
Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force
The Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force is manned by volunteers from all walks of life and has a proud history dating from its establishment in 1914. Traditionally, the role of the Force was to provide manpower support to the regular police during emergencies.
Since 1973, depending on the overall policing commitments and numbers of the regular police, the auxiliary police have been called upon to supplement their regular counterparts in day-to-day policing. In 1996, the average daily turnout was 644 officers. Their duties included crime prevention, crowd control, traffic control, operation duties, communications and community relations. The strength of the Force at the end of the year stood at 5 373, of whom 10.8 per cent were female officers.
Independent Police Complaints Council
The Independent Police Complaints Council's main function is to monitor and review investigations by CAPO of the Royal Hong Kong Police of public complaints made against the police.
The council is an independent committee whose members are appointed by the Governor. Other than the Chairman, the council comprises two Vice-Chairmen and