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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1975
HONG KONG'S PENAL SYSTEM SECOND TO NONE
SAYS COMMISSIONER OF PRISONS
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THE PENAL SYSTEM IN HONG KONG IS SECOND TO NONE. FURTHERMORE, HONG KONG PROBABLY LEADS THE WORLD IN THE TREATMENT OF DRUG ADDICTS.
THIS WAS STATED BY MR. TOM GARNER, COMMISSIONER OF PRISONS WHEN HE ADDRESSED A LUNCHEON MEETING OF THE LIONS CLUB OF NORTH KOWLOON THIS (TUESDAY) AFTERNOON.
EARLIER HE REVEALED THAT COMPARED TO THE LATEST FIGURE · AVAILABLE FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM AND ALLOWING FOR THE DIFFERENCE IN THE SIZE OF POPULATION, HONG KONG'S PRISON POPULATION IS 150 PER CENT HIGHER,
+THERE IS AT PRESENT CONFINED WITHIN PENAL INSTITUTIONS OVER 8,200 PRISONERS THIS IS SOME 2,000. MORE THAN THE ACCOMMODATION PROVIDED.+
+YET DESPITE THIS OVERCROWDING AND THIS HAS BEEN A PERENNIAL PROBLEM - THE PENAL SYSTEM IN HONG KONG IS SECOND TO NONE. FURTHERMORE WE PROBABLY LEAD THE WORLD IN THE TREATMENT OF DRUG ADDICTS,+ HE STRESSED.
THAT WE ARE IN THE FOREFRONT. HE ADDED. AMPLY REFLECTS THE EFFICIENCY OF THE STAFF. +IT IS THEY THEMSELVES - WHO HAVE DESTROYED THAT ONCE POPULAR AND TAUNTING MYTH THAT THE ROLE OF A PRISON OFFICER 18 SIMPLY THAT OF A TURN-KEY. IF THERE WAS ANY GRAIN OF TRUTH IN THIS, THEN SURELY IT WOULD NOT BE NECESSARY TO HAVE SO MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF INSTITUTIONS.+
FURTHER ELABORAȚING, MR. GARNER SAID, THE AVERAGE CITIZEN MAY HAVE THE IMPRESSION THAT PRISONERS LIVE IN SUD-HUMAN CONDITIONS AND ARE OFTEN ILL-TREATED BY THE STAFF. THIS UGLY, MEDIEVAL PRACTICE IS HISTORY. ILL TREATMENT IS A METHOD OF THE PAST AND IT WILL STAY THAT WAY.+
ON OTHER 'FACTS ABOUT PRISONS* THE COMMISSIONER SAID THAT FEW PEOPLE ARE AWARE THAT THERE IS A LOW ESCAPE RATE FROM OUR PENAL INSTITUTIONS -- A FACT WHICH IS PROBABLY THE ENVY OF MANY COUNTRIES IN THE COMMONWEALTH AND PROBABLY IN THE WORLD.
SPEAKING ABOUT THE MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON AT STANLEY, MR. GARNER SAID, IT IS WITH SOME SATISFACTION I CAN SAY THAT 1974 SAW THE LOWEST NUMBER OF ASSAULT CASES IN STANLEY PRISON FOR THE PAST 22 YEARS, WHICH HAVE AVERAGED 62 PER YEAR. LAST YEAR THERE WAS ONLY TEN CASES IN ALL. A FAR CRY FROM 1953 WHEN THERE WERE 90 CASES OF ASSAULT AND EVEN AS RECENT AS 1971 WHEN THERE WERE 91 CASES OF SUCH INCIDENTS.+
THE COMMISSIONER DESCRIBED THE STEADY DECLINE OF ASSAULTS INSIDE STANLEY AS SHOWING A VERY DEFINITE INDICATION OF THE DEGREE OF CONTROL NOU EXISTING IN THAT INSTITUTION.
/ON THE