ENG-1979 — Page 176

PUBLIC ORDER

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The government mounted two significant road safety publicity campaigns during the year. One was aimed at educating pedestrians how to use the roads properly and the second was concerned with safe driving and proper car maintenance.

All traffic figures are provisional figures only.

Training

The Royal Hong Kong Police Force's Training Wing expanded during the year, with an examinations unit, a manuals unit and a police education and language unit being intro- duced, together with the resumption of its full local recruitment function.

Recruiting remained a priority and a vigorous campaign was launched highlighting the activity and variety to be found in a police career. The target is to enrol 2,310 recruits at constable and inspectorate level by the end of the 1979–80 financial year.

The police education and language unit, established in May, eventually will be responsible for all language courses. In the past year, 192 junior police officers attended full-time English language courses for six months. In addition, 12 places a year have been made available for police officers to attend the diploma course in Japanese organised by the Hong Kong Polytechnic. An innovation was the scheme whereby selected chief inspectors were given the opportunity of attending an English language training course in the United Kingdom, followed by working attachments to provincial police forces there.

With the establishment of the examinations unit, the control and administration of all police professional examinations was centralised. The promotion-qualifying examination for constable to sergeant held in September attracted 4,500 applicants - an increase of more than 2,000 candidates compared with previous years.

Since it was formed in 1973, the capacity of the Police Cadet School has increased from 150 to 750. Of the 970 cadets who have graduated from the school since its inception, 835 joined the police, 31 entered the Fire Services Department, 50 opted for the Customs and Excise Service and 19 joined the Prisons Department.

The two sites on which the school stands at Fan Gardens, Fanling, and Dodwell's Ridge, Sheung Shui, are temporary. A purpose-built school is expected to be available for occupa- tion in 1983. The permanent school will be located at Shuen Wan near Plover Cove and will cater for some 1,000 students.

The Police Training School, Aberdeen, provides a 20-week basic training course for constables and a 36-week course for recruit inspectors including overseas officers. Instruc- tion covers criminal law, police procedures, leadership training, court procedure, physical training, first aid, weapon training and drill. Overseas officers also attend an eight-week course in colloquial Cantonese. During the year a total of 179 inspectors and 1,425 con- stables, both men and women, graduated from the school.

In addition to basic training, the school also runs courses for serving police constables and newly-promoted non-commissioned officers to update their knowledge on new legisla- tion and to prepare officers for higher rank. Courses for traffic wardens together with specialised traffic courses for serving officers are also run.

A revised district continuation training scheme operating from centres in each of Hong Kong's four police districts was introduced. This scheme provides additional training for constables in their first two years of service after passing out from the Police Training School and requires each constable to attend on two consecutive days each month. The scheme supplements the constables' practical knowledge and also prepares them for promo- tion examinations, which they may take after three years' service.