ENG-1992 — Page 304

PUBLIC ORDER

Community Relations

It has been the Force's long standing objective to seek more active support from the public in the fight against crime. In this connection, a territory-wide Fight Crime Campaign was conducted throughout the year under a main theme of 'Join Forces Against Crime'. Pivoting on the four sub-themes of 'What to Report', 'How to Report', 'Safe to Report' and 'Duty to Report', the campaign produced a comprehensive package, comprising two TV Announcements of Public Interest (APIs), a mobile exhibition and a series of poster displays in the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) and other prime locations.

The Good Citizen Award Scheme and the Good Citizen of the Year Award Scheme continued to prove effective as a means of promoting public assistance in the fight against crime. These two schemes are jointly administered by the Royal Hong Kong Police and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. Since the inception of these two schemes in 1972 and 1984 respectively, 2 264 persons have received the Good Citizen Award and 25 persons have been awarded the Good Citizen of the Year Award, in recognition of their outstanding courage, resourcefulness and initiative.

The Police Hotline (527 7177) received a total of 6 254 calls from civic-minded citizens, resulting in 1602 persons arrested for various crimes. Another method by which the public could supply information to the police was by completing a Crime Information Form (CIF). In 1992, the police received 2 111 completed forms which resulted in 475

arrests.

The Junior Police Call (JPC), enjoyed an active membership of 169 312 members and 14 063 leaders. Since its inception in 1974, the JPC movement has remained an effective tool in harnessing the collective efforts of young people to assist the police in the fight against crime. Members took part in fight crime activities and crime prevention campaigns. In addition, JPC members also participated in a wide range of community services such as flag-selling and fund-raising activities for charitable organisations. The success of the movement has helped to develop its members into healthy youth and responsible citizens of the future.

The Royal Hong Kong Police, in conjunction with Radio Television Hong Kong, produced three television programmes. The objective of these programmes was to convey crime prevention messages and to appeal to viewers for crime information. Reconstructions of crime cases in a dramatised format or in a documentary approach were featured to elicit public response. These programmes, known as Crime Watch, Police Call and Police Report, are broadcast on a regular basis on both the English and Chinese channels of the two local television stations. Audience ratings of these programmes remained high.

During the year, the Force handled 108 visits, receiving a total of 444 overseas and 723 local visitors, whose status ranged from Members of Parliament to college students.

Planning and Development

The beginning of the year saw plans for the split of Kowloon into Kowloon West and Kowloon East Regions reach fruition on January 1. The two Regional Headquarters are based at Kowloon City and Tseung Kwan O respectively.

Plans for the split of the New Territories into New Territories North and South Regions gained momentum, and a target implementation date for April 1, 1993 was set. Once implemented, the two Regional Headquarters will be based at Tai Po and Ma On Shan respectively.

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