ENG-1997 — Page 342

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called in for large operations. It liaises with other government departments to arrange for the security of co-operating prisoners and for the relocation of witnesses and their families in the community. The unit was greatly involved in the drafting of legislation to facilitate the re-identification of endangered witnesses.

Vulnerable Witnesses and Child Protection

The Child Protection Policy Unit (CPPU) and the five Regional Child Abuse Investigation Units (CAIUS) took up 163 cases (136 sexual offences and 27 physical abuse cases) for joint investigation with the Child Protective Services Units of the Social Welfare Department during 1997. In all, 53 video-recorded interviews (all for sexual offences) were conducted. The five CAIUS assisted other Crime Investigation Teams in 71 investigations (48 sexual offences, 19 physical abuse cases and four others) resulting in a further 26 video-recorded interviews.

Up to December, a total of 97 police officers participated in special training programmes conducted by overseas experts on video recorded interviews with vulnerable witnesses, and 38 of these trained officers are serving in the CAIUS. The training programmes covered various issues of child protection.

In November 1996, a Witness Support Programme using trained non-government volunteers or family aides of the Social Welfare Department was launched. The programme aims to facilitate court preparations of children and mentally retarded witnesses and to provide a 'support person' to accompany child and mentally handicapped victims when giving evidence. Up to December, 58 such witnesses had been provided with this service. A second training programme for a group of newly recruited volunteers was held in October.

The CPPU gained access to the Internet in April to monitor the development of child pornography through the systems of newsgroups, chatrooms and bulletin boards. The unit liaises closely with the Commercial Crime Bureau, which investigates individuals posting pornography on the Internet.

In May, the unit organised a multi-disciplinary workshop on child sexual abuse and a seminar on forensic evidence for various professionals. Officers from this unit also attended a conference on 'Offences Against Children' held in Argentina in March and a 'Child Pornography Workshop' held in the USA in June.

Commercial Crime

The Commercial Crime Bureau (CCB) had another busy year, with a mixture of traditional types of fraud and more modern scams. Hong Kong remained a popular location for West African crime syndicates to conduct Advance Fee Frauds against both local and overseas investors. Major convictions received widespread publicity. Long Firm Fraud cases continued to be reported but in fewer numbers than in the past. Some syndicates which had been active for several years were successfully neutralised, with their members being convicted and imprisoned.

The year also saw two long-term investigations undertaken by a CCB Task Force come to fruition. Enquiries into the activities of two publicly-listed companies, which had taken several years to complete, led to charges being laid against eight people in Hong Kong and extradition proceedings being initiated against a suspect in Australia.