Publicity Office, the TV and Films Liaison Office, Junior Police Call and the Force Newspaper, Off Beat. The Bureau is staffed by both police officers and civilians.
News and Information
The News and Information Room is the direct link between the Force and the media, and thereby the public. Staffed 24 hours a day, it seeks out and receives items of interest from the various police formations, and disseminates them to the press, radio and TV. News releases in Chinese are sent to the media via a facsimile machine. Information in English is distributed to all the media over the Bureau's teleprinter network.
Throughout the year the staff dealt with more than 36,500 queries ranging from statistical analyses, details of current crimes and the whereabouts of police friends of overseas visitors, to general information about the Force. They produced 3,380 news and feature releases in Chinese and English, arranged more than 100 special interviews with officers and organized more than 60 press conferences. The News and Information Room is also responsible for: Monitoring television and radio programmes of interest to the Force.
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Arranging police presence on current affairs and other television and radio programmes. Manning the telephone hotline 5-277177 linked to the Force television programme 'Police Report'. Handling missing vehicle lists issued to the media. Maintaining a press cuttings reference system. Providing press control and assistance at major
crime scenes.
Publicity Office
Broadly speaking, the Publicity Office is responsible for all visual and audio material; posters, booklets, pamphlets, leaflets, slide presentations, displays, exhibitions, and television and radio programme production. This work is done in co-operation with all police formations, and the Government Information Services Department on whom they rely for art and design expertise.
During 1977 the Publicity Office found itself under in- creasing pressure from TV and film companies, planning productions in Hong Kong. An average of 27 requests a
It was no-holds-barred when a BBC documentary film team captured the Force on film. Here, the subject is Commissioner Brian Slevin.
month were received for crowd control or other police manpower or facilities.
Assistance was given to the continuing recruitment campaign. Special recruiting teams were set which operate in individual divisions for three weeks at a time.
Road safety was another combined Government and police commitment that in the past was concentrated in one relatively short campaign. But as with the recruitment drive, this was changed to a continuous campaign with occasional peaks of extra effort.
Highlights during the year included:
A careers exhibition.
. The third Young People's Help the Police Com- petition, the four winners of which will spend about three weeks in Hawaii, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
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Nine summer youth camps for 360 boys and girls.
A colourful Junior Police Call float in the Silver Jubilee Parade.
The Good Citizen Award scheme continued throughout the year. In conjunction with the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, the Force co-ordinated four presentation ceremonies. At these events the Chamber awarded more than 150 people a total of about $150,000 for their help in fighting crime.
Television and Radio
The Force has 35 minutes of television and almost three hours of radio time each week. The focal point is the 'Police Report' television programme. This programme was introduced in October 1976, and aims at enlisting the help of the public in solving specific crimes. The programme also offers help and assistance whenever possible.
'Police Report' is produced in both English and Chinese. The English version lasts five minutes and the Chinese version lasts 15 minutes. The programme is shown during prime viewing time on all three channels and reaches an audience of around 1.5 million. Most up-to-date ratings place 'Police Report' ninth in overall standing. It is co-produced with Radio Television Hong Kong and in its first full year has produced good results. Altogether 473 cases were illustrated which resulted in 1,651 calls offering information which the caller thought might be of some help to police.
As a direct result of this information 66 persons were arrested for a variety of crimes including murder, kid- napping, extortion, membership of triad societies, forgery, gambling, and drug offences.
The two regular Force radio programmes are ‘Ask a Policeman', where members of public are invited to call the radio station and put questions relating to the police, and 'Voice of Junior Police Call' which backs up the weekly television programme 'Junior Police Call'.
Junior Police Call
The Junior Police Call scheme is now well known in Hong Kong and internationally. Its membership stands at 212,000. The most tangible result of the scheme is the way in which members contribute to society unselfishly, by cleaning beaches, raising funds for charitable organisa- tions and needy institutions, visiting and tending the aged, the infirm, the retarded and the orphaned, and actively participating in road safety, crime prevention,
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