ENG-1990 — Page 318

PUBLIC ORDER

The Welfare Branch continued to administer 30 self-catering holiday flats and bungalows in Macau, Lantau Island and the New Territories in which officers and their families can spend short vacations. In addition, the force operates a 10-room hostel for junior officers at Shek O Beach on Hong Kong Island. Overnight accommodation is also available at Green Island Recreation Centre.

Patronage at the Police Officers' Club and its much larger counterpart in Kowloon, the Police Sports and Recreation Club, continued to grow, resulting in increased use of all facilities at both clubs.

Highlight of the force sporting calendar came in August when twenty-six of the force's leading athletes participated in the International Law Enforcement Olympics held in Edmonton, Canada. The team registered success in nearly all the sports entered and returned to Hong Kong with a record number of 28 medals.

In view of the stressful nature of police work, regular stress management workshops were run by the force clinical psychologists for officers of various ranks.

The resettlement office continued to organise retirement preparation programmes and has improved the arrangements for officers of all ranks to undertake resettlement training during their final year of service. During the year, a number of officers attended re- settlement courses run by the Metropolitan Police and the Essex Police in the United Kingdom and the Welfare Branch locally.

Police Museum

The Police Museum, which is situated in the former Wan Chai Gap Police Station, has a fascinating collection of exhibits on the history of the force. These are laid out in four exhibition galleries: Oriental Gallery, Narcotics Gallery, Triad Societies Gallery and Current Exhibition Gallery. The museum is open to members of the public and is in- creasingly popular, especially at weekends and during school holidays.

Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force

Manned entirely by part-time volunteers from all walks of life, the Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force has a proud history dating back to 1914. The traditional role of the force is to provide the regular police with additional manpower for such emergencies as natural disasters or public disorder.

The Auxiliary Police are fully integrated with their regular counterparts and carry out a wide variety of constabulary duties in the field of crime prevention, neighbourhood policing, traffic control, special duties and community relations.

The present strength of the force is 5 380 personnel out of a total establishment of 5 747 of all ranks. Approximately 14 per cent are women officers.

Throughout the year, the average daily turnout of auxiliaries for normal constabulary duty was 767 officers. Additionally, the force was called upon to provide 48 personnel each day for guard duties at refugee camps set up to house the large numbers of Vietnamese boat people.

Customs and Excise

The Customs and Excise Department is organised into four major branches the Headquarters Branch, the Operations Branch, the Investigation Branch and the Trade Controls Branch, with the support of a Civil Secretariat. It has an establishment of 3 939

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