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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Ladies and Gentlemen, may I call the meeting to order.
MINUTES
The minutes of meeting held on the 9 June 1992 were confirmed.
PAPERS
The following paper was laid on the table:
(1) Reports to the Urban Council by the Secretary, Urban Council, for the month of June 1992.
QUESTIONS
1. MR. B. A. BERNACCHI asked the following question (in English):- (a) On Friday, 26 June 1992, certain GDT staff were attacked by a gang of illegal hawkers near Walton Estate in Chaiwan. This is not an unusual experience but is happening from time to time throughout the urban areas. Can the GD team be better protected? Can the two departments of Government, the USD and the Police, cooperate to tackle this problem? (b) There is a lot of illegal hawking on the flyway, New Jade Garden/MTR Station, including cooked-food hawkers, after the GD teams go off duty in the evening. Again, this is not peculiar to Chaiwan but happens in many places in the urban areas. Can the USD and the Police also cooperate with the object of certain policemen taking over from the USD staff in the evening when the GD teams have finished their tour of duty for the night?
MR. STEPHEN LAU MAN-LUNG, CHAIRMAN OF THE MARKETS AND STREET TRADERS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-The first part of the question asks whether the General Duty Teams can be better protected and whether the department and the Police can co-operate to tackle the problem, in the light of the incident on 26 June 1992 in which members of the GDT were attacked by a group of illegal hawkers.
GDT are law enforcement units with power and responsibility for making summary arrests and seizure of hawker equipment and commodities. In the discharge of their normal duties they often face confrontation with members of the public and there is always the potential of physical assault. However, being a civilian establishment they do not carry any defensive equipment while on duty. To prepare them to deal with sudden attacks and to minimize physical injuries, each member of the GDT is required to undergo a self-defence training, which forms an integral part of the GDT Basic Training Course. Whilst on duty, each GDT squad is equipped with a number of portable radios
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with direct access to the District Radio Communication Control Centre. Through this radio communication network, GDT members can call for reinforcements or Police assistance when such a need arises.
The assistance and cooperation of the Police is also essential in enhancing the safety of the GDT members. Speedy response from the Police to the GDT's request for help at the scene of confrontation ensures that a potentially hazardous situation is diffused peacefully. Action taken by the Police to follow up on information given on people who intimidate members of the GDT also removes potential and real threats of physical danger. The Department also solicits the assistance of the Police in organizing joint operations to deal with major special hawker clearance exercises and late-night actions against illegal cooked food hawkers, when the risk of confrontation and physical injuries is high. To maintain close liaison with the Police, District staff hold regular meetings with their Police counterparts to analyze the hawking situation and review control strategies in the district. Communication at senior levels between the Department and the Police is also maintained to ensure adequate police support and cooperation. No exception on the 26 June 1992 at about 4 p.m., members of the Eastern District GDT carried out their duty and were suddenly attacked by a gang of 20.
The GDT members informed the Police and sought their assistance. The Police arrived at the scene shortly and arrested a Chinese male and a Chinese female while the other assailants dispersed before the Police arrived. The arrested persons were later released on bail pending further investigation by the Police. Six members of the GDT were injured in the incident, including one Senior Overseer, one Overseer and four foremen.
The second part of Mr. Bernacchi's question refers to the illegal hawking activities on the footbridge outside the Chaiwan MTR Station in the evening, and asks whether the Police can take over from the GDT when the latter have finished their duty in the evening.
The location in question is one of the notorious hawker blackspots in the Eastern District. The Department is fully aware of the situation and has given priority to this particular spot. Since February this year, static patrol by GDT on the footbridge has been carried out from 8.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m. every day, supplemented by raiding operations outside these hours. The frequency of late-night joint GDT/Police raiding operations has also been increased from monthly to weekly since April 1992. In the first six months of the year, 94 illegal hawkers were arrested, and 30 seizures of abandoned hawking commodities and paraphernalia were made on this footbridge. One-third of these arrests and seizures were effected during late-night joint GDT/Police raiding operations. Generally speaking, illegal hawking activities on this footbridge are under control.
We understand that the Police are also faced with manpower constraints and have their own priorities in maintaining law and order, and therefore it is unlikely under the present circumstances that they would be able to take over
Page 29 of 126
Page 29 of 126
46
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Ladies and Gentlemen, may I call the meeting to order.
MINUTES
The minutes of meeting held on the 9 June 1992 were confirmed.
PAPERS
The following paper was laid on the table:
(1) Reports to the Urban Council by the Secretary, Urban Council, for the
month of June 1992.
QUESTIONS
1. MR. B. A. BERNACCHI asked the following question (in English):- (a) On Friday, 26 June 1992, certain GDT staff were attacked by a gang of illegal hawkers near Walton Estate in Chaiwan. This is not an unusual experience but is happening from time to time throughout the urban areas. Can the GD team be better protected? Can the two departments of Government, the USD and the Police, cooperative to tackle this problem? (b) There is a lot of illegal hawking on the flyway, New Jade Garden/MTR Station, including cooked-food hawkers, after the GD teams go off duty in the evening. Again, this is not peculiar to Chaiwan but happens in many places in the urban areas. Can the USD and the Police also cooperate with the object of certain policemen taking over from the USD staff in the evening when the GD teams have finished their tour of duty for the night?
MR. STEPHEN LAU MAN-LUNG, CHAIRMAN OF THE MARKETS AND STREET TRADERS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-The first part of the question asks whether the General Duty Teams can be better protected and whether the department and the Police can co-operate to tackle the problem, in the light of the incident on 26 June 1992 in which members of the GDT were attacked by a group of illegal hawkers.
GDT are law enforcement units with power and responsibility for making summary arrests and seizure of hawker equipment and commodities. In the discharge of their normal duties they often face confrontation with members of the public and there is always the potential of physical assault. However, being a civilian establishment they do not carry any defensive equipment while on duty. To prepare them to deal with sudden attacks and to minimize physical injuries, each member of the GDT is required to undergo a self-defence training, which forms an integral part of the GDT Basic Training Course. Whilst on duty, each GDT squad is equipped with a number of portable radios
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ག
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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47
with direct access to the District Radio Communication Control Centre. Through this radio communication network, GDT members can call for reinforcements or Police assistance when such a need arises.
The assistance and cooperation of the Police is also essential in enhancing the safety of the GDT members. Speedy response from the Police to the GDT's request for help at the scene of confrontation ensures that a potentially hazardous situation is diffused peacefully. Action taken by the Police to follow up on information given on people who intimidate members of the GDT also removes potential and real threats of physical danger. The Department also solicits the assistance of the Police in organizing joint operations to deal with major special hawker clearance exercises and late-night actions against illegal cooked food hawkers, when the risk of confrontation and physical injuries is high. To maintain close liaison with the Police, District staff hold regular meetings with their Police counterparts to analyze the hawking situation and review control strategies in the district. Communication at senior levels between the Department and the Police is also maintained to ensure adequate police support and cooperation. No exception on the 26 June 1992 at about 4 p.m., members of the Eastern District GDT carried out their duty and was suddenly attacked by a gang of 20.
The GDT members informed the Police and sought their assistance. The Police arrived the scene shortly and arrested a Chinese male and a Chinese female while the other assailants dispersed before the Police arrived. The arrested persons were later released on bail pending further investigation by the Police. Six members of the GDT were injured in the incident, including one Senior Overseer, one Overseer and four foremen.
The second part of Mr. Bernacchi's question refers to the illegal hawking activities on the footbridge outside the Chaiwan MTR Station in the evening, and asks whether the Police can take over from the GDT when the latter have finished their duty in the evening.
The location in question is one of the notorious hawker blackspots in the Eastern District. The Department is fully aware of the situation and has given priority to this particular spot. Since February this year, static patrol by GDT on the footbridge has been carried out from 8.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m. everyday, supplemented by raiding operations outside these hours. The frequency of late-night joint GDT/Police raiding operations has also been increased from monthly to weekly since April 1992. In the first six months of the year, 94 illegal hawkers were arrested, and 30 seizures of abandoned hawking commodities and paraphernalia were made on this footbridge. One-third of these arrests and seizures were effected during late-night joint GDT/Police raiding operations. Generally speaking, illegal hawking activities on this footbridge are under control.
We understand that the Police are also faced with manpower constraints and have their own priorities in maintaining law and order, and therefore it is unlikely under the present circumstances that they would be able to take over
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