ENG-1979 — Page 173

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PUBLIC ORDER

exhibitions. It also maintains a permanent display of modern security hardware at police headquarters.

Interpol Bureau

Hong Kong is a member of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) and has a bureau operating within the Criminal Investigation Department headquarters. Liaison with other police forces is maintained and the bureau regularly assists law enforcement officers from other countries visiting Hong Kong on inquiries. Two Hong Kong police officers are seconded to the Interpol General Secretariat in Paris and another officer is attached to the British Embassy in Bangkok.

Detective Training Wing

The Criminal Investigation Department Training School holds 12-week courses in which stress is placed upon the practical application of criminal law and the latest investigative techniques. Emphasis during the year was on the development of investigative skills in junior officers while retaining the investigation team concept. A total of 526 officers ranging from senior inspector to constable, including women, completed training. Officers from the Immigration Department, the Customs and Excise Service, and police officers from Malaysia and the Philippines also attended.

Airport Division

During the year, significant new structural developments took place to improve and expand the facilities at Hong Kong International Airport. This, in turn, placed a greater burden upon the police force in the maintenance of general security and day-to-day policing. Passenger traffic during the year exceeded 6.2 million and a throughput of 260,000 tonnes of air freight was recorded. Senior police officers visited several countries in order to exchange views, take part in security conferences and generally improve the important liaison which already exists in the field of aviation security.

Emergency Units

Police emergency units cover three of Hong Kong's four territorial districts - Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories, with Marine District being excluded. The units provide a fast, mobile emergency service and maintain a police presence on the ground, in addition to the normal beat patrol system. As well as mobile patrols, the units carry out regular anti-crime foot and high-rise building patrols, road blocks, traffic enforcement duties, cash and prisoner escorts, and crowd control duties.

Marine Police

The year 1979 proved to be the busiest one for Marine District since the last mass exodus of illegal immigrants from China in 1962. This time the illegal immigrant problem was compounded by increasing numbers of Vietnamese refugees who arrived mainly in small craft throughout the year. The resources of the marine police, both in terms of launches and manpower, were stretched to the limit; the fleet was increased by four launches on loan from other government departments while added support was given by Royal Navy units.

The numbers of people attempting to illegally enter Hong Kong, as was to be expected, gave rise to criminal syndicates operating primarily to bring illegal Chinese immigrants into