352 | Public Order
activities resulted in 175 convictions; the maximum penalty was $20,000 and imprisonment for six months.
The Fire Service Installation Task Force has stepped up monitoring efforts to improve building fire safety and arouse public awareness of the need to maintain fire service installations and equipment in buildings. A total of 56 360 inspections to buildings were made during the year. The task force also monitors the performance of the registered fire service installation contractors and made 554 random checks. Legal action was taken against six contractors who had contravened the regulations.
Appliances and Equipment
In 2005, the department had 853 fire appliances, ambulances and supporting vehicles. A fire-fighting support machine designed for tackling large-scale tunnel and basement fires was acquired and a high-performance fireboat, the Excellence, was commissioned in April to replace Fireboat 6 to further enhance the department's maritime fire-fighting and rescue capabilities.
New Stations and Depots
The department continued to plan and build fire stations and ambulance depots to cope with local development and service needs and follow the Government's policy of providing an emergency response to all areas within minimum set times. according to the category of risk. During the year, it opened ambulance depots at Mong Kok and Kwai Chung.
Public Liaison Group
The Public Liaison Group was set up in 1994 to encourage public participation in monitoring and improving the delivery of emergency fire and ambulance services. Thirty members of the public from all walks of life were randomly selected from among 84 applicants to form the group for 2005.
Correctional Services
The Correctional Services Department (CSD) runs a comprehensive range of services for adult and young offenders, drug addicts and offenders with psychiatric problems. The services fall broadly under two areas: prison management and rehabilitation of offenders.
In 2005, the CSD managed 24 correctional institutions, three halfway houses, four rehabilitation centres, two custodial wards in public hospitals and one immigration centre on behalf of the Immigration Department. The Lo Wu Correctional Institution closed in March and Victoria Prison closed in December. The CSD also runs extensive community-based, after-care services. In all, 6 569 staff were looking after a daily average of 12 203 inmates, 187 detainees and 2 842 people under supervision after discharge from custody.
Offenders sentenced to imprisonment are assigned to institutions according to their gender, age and security rating. The last factor takes into account, among other things, the risk they pose to the community and whether they are first-time offenders. Separate institutions are provided for males and females, and for adults