ENG-1981 — Page 185

PUBLIC ORDER

133

On the managerial side, a Force Inspection Unit is being created to carry out regular inspections of all formations to ensure that force policies and priorities are being implemented, that functions are being performed correctly and efficiently, and that formations are adequately manned, equipped and supported.

The Management Services Wing was also reorganised which resulted in the formation, in October, of a Planning and Development Branch. This branch is responsible for the co-ordination of all aspects of force planning and development including long-term man- power, organisational studies and implementation of the force building programme.

Corruption prevention studies, carried out within the force, resulted in the formation of a Police Corruption Prevention Group comprising senior officers of both the force and the ICAC.

An ambitious building programme, which envisages the construction of some 40 police buildings over the next five years, has been drawn up. And more than 3 500 quarters for married junior officers will be provided during the next four years. During the year, the Tuen Mun Divisional Station and Discovery Bay Sub-Divisional Station were completed and 13 further Neighbourhood Police Units and three Report Centres opened to keep abreast with residential development.

On the technical resources side, work continued on the development of the Beat Radio Scheme force-wide, with priority being given to the rapidly developing new towns in the New Territories.

Consultancy studies also included the computerisation of criminal records and a project to determine requirements for the second generation command and control system equipment.

While these foundations were being laid, major problems which have been facing the force in the past few years - traffic, crime, illegal immigration and refugees – continued to make heavy demands on manpower and other resources.

Traffic congestion and associated parking and control problems continued to beset the force, particularly on Hong Kong Island where work started on the Mass Transit Railway Island Line and the Eastern Corridor. The situation was not made easier by the increase in the number of registered vehicles, which at the end of the year stood at 330 311.

On the anti-crime front, the year's Fight Crime Campaign was directed against the rise in juvenile crime which has become evident in the past two years. Spearheading the year-long campaign to dissuade young people from becoming involved in crime was the 287 000- strong Junior Police Call, the largest youth club of its kind in the world.

In the recruitment field, the process of consolidation continued and targets of 2000 constables and 200 inspectors were set for the 1981-2 financial year.

More than 90 per cent of the constables now joining the force have completed secondary education or above following the raising of the minimum entry qualifications. At the end of 1981, the force had an establishment of 22 514 disciplined officers and 4 854 civilians.

In the course of the year, two police officers gave their lives while on duty and another 135 were injured.

―

A Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the death of Police Inspector John MacLennan found that the inspector had committed suicide. The findings of the 11-month inquiry which heard evidence from 110 witnesses were published in Chinese and English in a 411-page report which received widespread coverage by the media. Copies of the full report, as well as summaries of it, were also printed for sale to the public.