WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 1979
11
MR. HOBLEY SAID A DIFFICULTY IN DEVISING A LAW IN THE CRIME PREVENTION FIELD IS TO MAKE IT SUFFICIENTLY +REAL+ TO INDUCE THE RIGHT RESPONSE FROM THE COURTS.
+AN OFFENCE WHICH IS DESIGNED TO PREVENT CRIME, AND TO STRIKE AT PEOPLE AT A STAGE WHEN THE IR MERE ASSOCIATION TOGETHER MAY PROVIDE A STIMULUS FOR CRIME, IS INEVITABLY SOMEWHAT IMPRECISE,+ MR. HOBLEY SAID.
HOWEVER, HE POINTED OUT THAT THE CONCEPT OF LOITERING WAS ONE WHICH WAS WELL-KNOWN TO THE COURTS AND IT IS MY BELIEF THAT THE PROPOSED ENLARGEMENT OF THE OFFENCE OF LOITERING WILL BE UNDERSTOOD AND ACCEPTED.+
MR. HOBLEY SAID THAT SINCE THE BILL WAS PUBLISHED A FEW DAYS AGO, QUITE A BIT HAD BEEN SAID AND WRITTEN ABOUT THE DANGER OF ABUSE.
+THERE IS ALWAYS SOME RISK OF ABUSE WITH AN OFFENCE OF THIS KIND, BUT AS I HAVE SAID LOITER ING IS NOT A NEW LEGAL CONCEPT. THE GOVERNMENT'S VIEW IS THAT THE PROPOSED ENLARGEMENT OF THE LOITERING OFFENCE IS NECESSARY.+
HE SAID THAT TO COMBAT ABUSE +WE MUST PLAINLY RELY ON THE MAJOR STEPS THAT HAVE BEEN TAKEN IN THE PAST TWO YEARS WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CAPO (COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE POLICE OFFICE) AND THE VITAL MONITORING ROLE PERFORMED BY THE UMELCO GROUP,+
EARLIER, MR. HOBLEY SAID THE GANG ACTIVITY IN THE CRIMINAL FIELD HAD LONG BEEN A PROBLEM IN HONG KONG, AS IN NEARLY ALL LARGE CITIES EVERYWHERE.
HOWEVER, HE SAID THE PROBLEM WAS MORE SINISTER IN HONG KONG BECAUSE OF THE ASSOCIATION IN THE PUBLIC MIND OF GANGS WITH THE OLD-STYLE TRIAD SOCIETIES WHICH WERE A SOURCE OF GREAT TERROR.
MR. HOBLEY SAID THAT THE CURRENT PROBLEM IS NOT THE OLD-STYLE TRIAD PROBLEM AS SUCH. THE CURRENT PROBLEM, HE STRESSED, WAS ONE OF A LARGE NUMBER OF SEPARATE GANGS, VARYING IN SIZE BUT NOT USUALLY HAVING MORE THAN ABOUT 20 MEMBERS.
+NEVERTHELESS, THE GANGS TAKE THE NAME OF ONE OR OTHER OF THE FORMER TRIAD SOCIETIES AND THERE IS USUALLY, BUT NOT INVARIABLY, A MINIMUM PROCESS OF TRIAD STYLE INITIATION WHEN A NEW MEMBER JOINS A GANG.
+ IT IS THIS THAT PERPETUATES THE IMAGE OF THE FORMER TRIAD SOCIETIES, AND THUS THE FEAR WHICH TRIAD SOCIETIES ENGENDERED. THERE ARE HOWEVER NO LONGER ANY LARGE OR POWERFUL TRIAD SOCIETIES DOMINATED BY A SINISTER CENTRAL MANAGEMENT, MR. HOBLEY SAID."
HOWEVER, HE SAID, THE CHANGED NATURE OF THE MODERN TRIAD GANG DOES NOT MEAN THAT THEY POSE LESS OF A THREAT TO LAW AND ORDER, THEY POSE A VERY REAL THREAT. +
HE EMPHASISED THAT PART OF THE IR STRENGTH IS THE IR ASSOCIATION IN THE MINDS OF THE PUBLIC WITH THE TRIAD SOCIETIES OF THE PAST, BUT AS IN OTHER COUNTRIES THE EFFECT OF GROUPS OF GANG MEMBERS BEHAVING IN A MENACING OR BULLYING OR INSULTING OR OFFENSIVE WAY IS IN ITSELF CONS IDERABLE.+
/+THE PHYSICAL