WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1982
IT IS JUSTIFIABLE, HE SAID, FOR CRITICISM TO BE LEVELLED AT ANY POLICE FORCE WHERE MEMBERS FAIL IN THE DISCHARGE OF THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES AND NEITHER THE POLICE NOR THE GOVERNMENT WOULD WISH TO CONTEST THAT RIGHT OF CRITICISM.
+BUT THE PUBLIC SHOULD KEEP IN MIND THE WIDER PICTURE. SINCE I ARRIVED I HAVE BEEN IMPRESSED BY THE WAY IN WHICH THE FORCE GOES ABOUT ITS WIDELY RANGING DUTIES IN THIS BUSY, CROWDED PLACE,+ SIR EDWARD SAID.
ON THE MATTER OF NARCOTICS, THE GOVERNOR SAID THAT AS A RESULT OF TWO CONSECUTIVE BUMPER OPIUM CROPS IN THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE, THERE WAS NOW A MORE ABUNDANT SUPPLY OF DRUGS,
ALTHOUGH THE POLICE AND CUSTOMS HAD SEIZED MORE DRUGS IN THE FIRST HALF OF 1982 THAN IN THE WHOLE OF 1981, PRICES OF DRUGS AT STREET LEVEL WERE LOWER THAN THEY HAD BEEN FOR SIX YEARS. IN CONSEQUENCE, THE DECLINING TRENDS IN DRUG ADDICTION SINCE 1974 WERE REVERSED LAST YEAR.
HOWEVER IT WAS CONSOL ING TO KNOW THAT 12 500, OR NEARLY ONE-THIRD, OF THE 40 000 ADDICTS ON RECORD WERE RECEIVING VARIOUS FORMS OF TREATMENT OR AFTERCARE EVERY DAY, AND THE NUMBER OF NEWLY REPORTED ADDICTS BETWEEN THE AGE OF 15 AND 24 HAD DROPPED FROM 722 IN THE LATTER HALF OF 1981 TO 591 IN THE FIRST HALF OF THIS YEAR.
POLICE CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS SHOW 13% DROP
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THE GOVERNOR, SIR EDWARD YOUDE, WAS ENCOURAGED TO SEE A DROP OF 13 PER CENT IN THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS ALLEGING CORRUPTION AGAINST THE POLICE DURING THE FIRST EIGHT MONTHS OF THIS YEAR.
ADDRESSING THE NEW SESSION OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, SIR EDWARD POINTED OUT THAT CO-OPERATION BETWEEN THE ICAC AND THE POLICE IN MANY ASPECTS OF OPERATIONS HAS BEEN EXTENDED AND THE IR JO INT EFFORT IN THE FIELD OF PREVENTION THROUGH THE POLICE CORRUPTION PREVENTION GROUP HAS MADE A GOOD START.
HE SAID THAT THERE HAS BEEN AN INCREASE IN COMPLAINTS ABOUT CORRUPTION IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR BUT THE FIGURES MAY INDICATE A GREATER READINESS TO REPORT CORRUPTION IN THIS AREA.
ON CRITICISM AGAINST ICAC FOR THE TIME TAKEN IN INVESTIGATION, HE EXPLAINED THAT, BY THE IR VERY NATURE, CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION WERE COMPLEX AND OFTEN LONG DRAWN-OUT.
+EVERY EFFORT IS MADE BY THE COMMISSION TO REDUCE DELAYS BECAUSE THESE, APART FROM OTHER CONSIDERATIONS, CAN WELL UNDERMINE THE CHANCES OF A SUCCESSFUL PROSECUTION, HE ADDED,
AS FOR THE POWERS OF THE ICAC, SIR EDWARD SAID THAT IN GENERAL THEY WERE STILL ESSENTIAL IN THE SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF HONG KONG.
+ THE ROLE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL IN DECIDING IN ALL PROSECUTIONS AND THE MONITORING FUNCTIONS OF BOTH THE OPERATIONS REVIEW COMMITTEE AND THE COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE ICAC COMMITTEE UNDER UMELCO PROVIDE SOUND SAFEGUARDS AGAINST ABUSE, HE STRESSED.