ENG-1978 — Page 179

PUBLIC ORDER

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The beat radio scheme, which was introduced in 1976, has proved very successful. Through the system, patrolling constables are able to maintain contact with district and divisional controllers and with other police officers on duty in the same area. The wide coverage offered by beat radios has greatly improved the efficiency of the force and enables an immediate response to be made to any reported crime, incident or traffic problem. It is planned to extend the application of beat radios in the three land districts, maintaining control from district centres in which computer command and control systems are in operation.

A terminal which provides rapid contact with International Criminal Police Organi- sation (Interpol) stations throughout the world is in operation.

Work continued on the planning of equipment and facilities for several major proj- ects including a police radio scheme for the Mass Transit Railway system and the installation of an air-to-ground radio network. The latter will enable police launches and commanders of field operations to communicate directly with military or Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force helicopters. Training facilities at the Police Cadet School have been improved by the installation of a language laboratory catering for 16 students at a time.

Community Relations

The force continued to place emphasis on the need to promote good relations between the police and the public and 1978 saw several innovations in the community relations field.

Principal among these was the reorganisation of the Police Public Relations Bureau under the new title of the Police Public Relations Wing. The new wing, which doubled its establishment, reverted to having a chief superintendent of police as its head and was divided into two bureaus; one with the object of providing better communications with the news media which serves Hong Kong's 4.6 million population, and the other to co-ordinate all community relations efforts.

A new philosophy and approach to community involvement in fighting crime, crime prevention, police recruiting and road safety were adopted with the highly successful Beat Crime 1978 campaign launched in April. By combining all into one co-ordinated drive, greater public co-operation and support have been achieved with District Fight Crime Committees, Mutual Aid Committees, community organisations and govern- ment departments working together on a series of localised campaigns centred on the various police divisions.

The police-orientated youth organisation, Junior Police Call (JPC), entered its fifth year of existence and currently has a membership of 227,100. Centred on weekly television and radio programmes, the main objectives of the club are to promote good citizenship, to provide a range of leisure activities for the young, to encourage them to help people who are less fortunate and to give them the opportunity to work with the police against crime. The JPC Leadership Scheme, introduced in 1977, was further developed and now has more than 2,000 young people over the age of 17 who are assisting Police Community Relations Officers in running divisional clubs. Another innovation during the year was the launching of a Rotarian-sponsored JPC newspaper.