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Public Order
Committees with a grant of $6.21 million to sustain anti-drug efforts and raise community awareness of hidden drug abuse.
Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism
The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau coordinates overall policies in anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism. In this connection, the Narcotics Division is preparing the legislation for establishing the R32 System. The division also assists in the promotion of customer due diligence and record-keeping to designated non-financial businesses and professions, including lawyers, accountants, estate agents, trust and company service providers and dealers in precious metals and precious stones.
Government Laboratory
The Government Laboratory's Forensic Science Division provides a comprehensive forensic service to the criminal justice system. It has two operational groups, the Drugs, Toxicology and Documents Group and the Criminalistics and Quality Management Group.
The Drugs, Toxicology and Documents Group examines cases in three areas:
• Abused drugs. The number of examined cases dropped slightly compared to that of 2015. The most commonly encountered abused drugs were, in descending order, methamphetamine, cocaine, ketamine, heroin, cannabis and benzodiazepines.
• Analysis of blood and urine in drink-driving and drug-driving cases, urinalysis and hair drug testing to support abused drug monitoring programmes, and toxicological examination in suspicious deaths and criminal offences. Compared with 2015, the demand for urinalysis and drug-driving dropped while that for drink-driving and hair drug testing registered an increasing trend.
• Examination of handwriting and documents. The group also offers technical advice and testing on the quality of Hong Kong Identity Cards. In 2016, among the items examined, Hong Kong Identity Cards continued to be the most commonly forged document, followed by travel documents and credit cards.
The Criminalistics and Quality Management Group conducts laboratory tests covering trace evidence examination, marks and impressions comparison, and forensic DNA analysis. It also provides a round-the-clock crime scene examination and consultation service to lend expert assistance to the identification, retrieval and preservation of scientific evidence. There are officers specially trained to ascertain causes of fires, reconstruct traffic accidents and interpret bloodstain patterns in violent crimes. In June, the group undertook a detailed investigation of the fatal fourth-alarm fire at a mini-storage facility in Ngau Tau Kok.
Civil Aid Service
The Civil Aid Service (CAS) is a government auxiliary emergency service set up under the Civil Aid Service Ordinance, with 103 civil servants and about 7,000 adult volunteers and cadets. Members are trained to work in emergencies such as typhoons, floods and landslides.
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