ENG-1986 — Page 246

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PUBLIC ORDER

The new-style identity card has continued to prove difficult to forge, while computerised checking procedures make it possible to identify evaders who use lost or stolen cards belonging to bona fide Hong Kong residents.

The smuggling of children into the territory was a worrying trend in the latter part of the year despite counter-measures taken by security forces. During the year, the police located 212 child illegal immigrants.

Narcotics

A sixth successive heavy crop of the opium poppy in the ‘Golden Triangle' border area of Burma, Laos and Thailand resulted in widespread drug trafficking throughout Southeast Asia and a flow of opiates into Hong Kong. Continued enforcement action by police and customs units resulted in fluctuations in prices and purity levels.

A disturbing trend was the increased seizures of Methaqualone which had been smuggled into the territory.

Some 643 kilograms of opiate drugs, including heroin base, No. 3 heroin and opium were seized, compared with 467 kilograms in 1985. There were 12 554 prosecutions for narcotics offences, compared with 12 432 in the previous year.

Crime Prevention

The Crime Prevention Bureau continued to expand its activities. Its officers co-operated with various public bodies and organisations in the production of a wide range of crime prevention leaflets and announcements of public interest, and participated in seminars and community exhibitions.

Criminal Information

The Police Operational Nominal Index Computer System, which is maintained and operated by the Criminal Records Bureau, continued to be effective. Approximately 9 000 enquiries a day were handled in 1986.

The Identification Bureau specialises in fingerprint technology and forensic photo- graphy. Staff of the Scenes of Crime Section attended 23 140 crime scenes to examine fingerprints, resulting in 535 persons being identified as having connection with 645 cases.

The main fingerprint collection contains 573 438 sets of fingerprints. During the year, 72 336 arrest fingerprints were processed and, of these, 39 294 people were identified as having previous convictions. The section also carried out searches on 60 565 sets of fingerprints for vetting purposes.

The Certificate of No Criminal Conviction Section received 38 200 applications for certificates.

The Photographic Section, which is staffed by professional photographers as well as trained police officers, produced 594 030 black and white photographs and 165 718 colour slides and photographs.

Traffic

Traffic accidents causing personal injury continued to decline throughout 1986. A number of factors contributed to this, including the effect of the opening of new high-capacity roads, which relieved the pressure on existing urban routes; the opening of the Hong Kong Island line of the Mass Transit Railway, which further reduced the pressure, and the continued overall decline in the number of licensed vehicles, private cars in particular. The latter reduction may, in part, have been due to the stringent standards of roadworthiness now set for private motor vehicles over six years old.