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Ombudsman. The commission also has an internal investigation group which monitors the conduct of its officers and investigates complaints or allegations of corruption against ICAC officers.
The Commission's Mission
With the community, the ICAC is committed to fighting corruption through effective law enforcement, education and prevention, to help keep Hong Kong fair, just, stable and prosperous.
Government Laboratory
The Forensic Science Division of the Government Laboratory makes available a range of specialist scientific analytical skills to the criminal justice system in Hong Kong. The laboratory specialists endeavour to be impartial, accurate, and efficient, combining a wide range of analytical examinations with informed scientific opinion on the significance of results obtained. The division's first priority is given to government departments dealing with law and order, but subvented organisations such as the Health Authority can call upon the services provided, as can the private sector, on a cost-recovery basis. Fees are paid direct to general revenue with $0.3 million collected in the past year. The greatest source of income is derived from questioned document examination, DNA profiling and accident reconstruction analysis.
The Division has 144 staff, of whom 55 are professional forensic scientists in various disciplines. Its nine specialist sections organised into the Physical and Biochemical Evidence Group and the Drugs and Toxicology Group undertake the scientific investigation of such diverse crimes as homicide, arson, armed robbery, commercial fraud, fatal traffic accident, manufacture and trafficking of dangerous drugs and possession of controlled pharmaceutical preparations. The division also provides a 24-hour scene-of-crime service by collecting scientific evidence at scenes of crime for further analysis in the laboratory.
The Biochemical Sciences Sections accorded priority during the year on streamlining procedures, building data-bank and intensively training all professional staff in DNA procedures, in particular, the new PCR/STR techniques with the aim of introducing them into routine casework by 1997. The collaborated US Secret Service/HK Government Laboratory computer classification system of counterfeit credit cards, a fruitful outcome of joint efforts between the Questioned Documents Section and experts of the US Secret Service Laboratory was taken up by Interpol for collation of intelligence, on an international scale, regarding movements and clandestine manufacturing of counterfeit payment cards.
While the number of cases involving methamphetamine and benzodiazephines has increased, heroin remained the major drug of abuse. To cope with the substantial increase in the workload of the Drugs and Toxicology Group, a third Controlled Drugs Section commanded by a senior chemist has been set up.
There is a constant need to keep analytical methods under review in keeping with the ever-higher levels of accuracy and precision which new technology provides. For this reason, the Instrumentation and Quality Assurance Section, working directly under the head of the division, is given the task of managing advanced instrumentation and organising quality assurance programmes so as to monitor the