ENG-1977 — Page 188

PUBLIC ORDER

Prisons Department

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A welcome levelling-off of the penal population in 1977 enabled the Prisons Depart- ment to concentrate more fully on strengthening, expanding and consolidating a wide range of rehabilitative programmes and facilities.

Major highlights of the year included the opening of the Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre, a maximum security prison for 960 men; the permanent allocation of Hei Ling Chau for the development of penal institutions; the opening of an extension to the Sha Tsui Detention Centre to cater for the 21 to 25 age group; and the creation of a post of general manager for prison industries.

The Commissioner of Prisons is responsible for the overall administration of 17 penal institutions, a half-way house and a Staff Training Institute.

Prisons

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The long-awaited Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre, first conceived more than a decade ago, came into operation in December. It has taken over the role of the grossly- overcrowded Victoria Reception Centre and is a holding prison for all males on remand and convicted prisoners awaiting classification and allocation. It also has improved the accommodation situation in Stanley Prison which, in the past, had the additional burden of detaining high-risk prisoners held on remand.

The new reception centre, comprising two nine-storey cellular blocks and an adjoining eight-storey dormitory block, is one of the few high-rise penal institutions in the world. It features closed-circuit television, an internal radio communication network and electronically-controlled main gates. On admission, all prisoners under- go a thorough medical examination, including an X-ray. Those who have been con- victed attend a classification board to determine the type of institution to which they will be sent. The board takes into consideration such factors as physical fitness, security requirement, the type of offence committed, sentence and previous criminal history.

The long-standing problem of overcrowding in Stanley, a maximum security prison built in 1937 to accommodate 1,605 prisoners, eased in 1977. The daily average popu- lation dropped to 1,974, compared with 2,314 in 1976 and 2,666 in 1975.

Although a vital function of a maximum security institution is to protect the com- munity from the more violent and dangerous criminal, the principal aim is that of correction and rehabilitation. As a result, Stanley has a comprehensive industrial section with reasonably large and well-equipped workshops. Prison industries include tailoring, carpentry, shoemaking, silk screening, fibre-glass moulding and laundry work.

Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre, in the New Territories, also is a maximum security prison. It has accommodation for 120 inmates who require psychiatric treatment under special security conditions because of their dangerous, violent and criminal tendencies. Prisoners in other penal institutions requiring psychiatric treatment are referred to this centre for treatment. Those remanded by the courts for psychiatric reports also are accommodated. The centre has modern equipment and is manned by trained staff, with two psychiatrists in attendance daily.

Siu Lam also features two special wings - one for top security female prisoners and the other for those requiring special segregation in high security conditions.