370 | Public Order
permitted to live at home or in other places while they continue to receive after-care supervision.
Penal Institutions
The CSD manages 12 prisons for adult males and three for adult females. Two drug addiction treatment centres are also provided, one each for male and female drug addicts. For young offenders, the department operates two prisons, two training centres, one detention centre and two rehabilitation centres for males; and one training centre and two rehabilitation centres for females. The Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre is a maximum security prison which separately houses male and female prisoners of all categories (sentenced or on remand) and detainees who require psychiatric observation, treatment or assessment. Of these institutions five cater to remand males and females of different age groups. Facilities in a penal institution normally include dormitories, kitchens, dining rooms, laundries, workshops,
dining exercising and recreational areas, library and hospital.
The three halfway houses operated by the CSD provide accommodation, group counselling sessions and other activities for supervisees in need of a period of adjustment upon release to assist their reintegration into society.
Victoria Prison, the oldest prison and in use since 1841, is scheduled for closure by late 2005. Under a reprovisioning exercise, a new prison with 650 penal places to be known as Lai Chi Kok Correctional Institution is being constructed. The department has also been exploring suitable sites for developing new prisons to cope with the problems of overcrowding and outdated facilities in correctional institutions.
The department will manage and operate the new Castle Peak Bay Immigration. Centre on behalf of the Immigration Department for a five-year term commencing mid-2005.
Penal Population
In 2004, the penal population remained high and averaged 14 per cent over the certified accommodation, with prisons for adults, particularly females, being the major pressure points. The rising trend of female penal population continued in 2004, and the female adults sentenced to imprisonment and remanded in custody increased by 13 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively, over 2003. A record high of 3 092 was registered in June, representing an occupancy rate of 177 per cent. Despite overcrowding that stretched resources, the CSD continued to implement its correctional programmes effectively.
During the year, 25 785 adult offenders (13 790 males and 11 995 females) were sentenced to imprisonment, and 9 523 adult remands (6 807 males and 2 716 females) were received for custody. The number of young offenders sentenced to imprisonment totalled 2 145 (648 males and 1 497 females), and 921 young remands (709 males and 212 females) were received for custody. In addition, 816 young offenders (731 males and 85 females) were sentenced to detention in training centres, rehabilitation centres or the detention centre, and 1 324 offenders (1 126 males and 198 females) to drug addiction treatment centres.