ENG-1998 — Page 356

PUBLIC ORDER

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Vietnamese Illegal Arrivals

On January 9, the SAR abolished the port of first asylum policy. The last Vietnamese detention centre, the High Island Detention Centre, was closed on May 26. In 1998, 894 Vietnamese Ils were arrested, representing a decrease of 48 per cent from 1 721 in 1997. Most of them came to Hong Kong to seek employment. During the year, the police provided escorts under the Orderly Repatriation Programme for the repatriation of 43 Vietnamese migrants and 1 439 Vietnamese IIs on 11 flights to Vietnam.

Bomb Disposal

The Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bureau was heavily involved in several major operations throughout the year. Apart from providing coverage for the Handover anniversary celebrations and the presidential visits, the bureau destroyed 10 tonnes of unstable explosive rocket propellant confiscated under the Import and Export (Strategic Commodities) Regulations. It also took part in operations in which more than 1000 kilograms of explosives and several hundred detonators intended for criminal use were seized. Other duties included regular bomb disposal call-outs during which a wide variety of bombs from wartime ordnance to home-made bombs were rendered safe.

Training was provided to a wide cross-section of departments. Of particular note was a training programme designed to assist key departments in acquiring expertise to counter the threat of nuclear, biological and chemical terrorism. This generated a set of co-ordinated procedures and an overall strategy to deal with such incidents.

Police Dog

The Police Dog Unit is staffed by officers with specialised skills in dog handling and training. The unit's headquarters at Queen's Hill Camp is primarily committed to breeding and training police dogs. It also provides canine operational support to police regions. Besides general patrols, police dogs have been made part of the Emergency Unit since 1998 as an endeavour to provide a speedier service.

Specialist 'sniffer' dogs are trained to search for dangerous drugs, explosives and firearms and are retained at the airport to provide a 24-hour service. They also operate in tandem with the Force Search Cadre in special operations and major events, such as the presidential visits.

Traffic

Traffic Police continued to play a vital role in the ongoing development and completion of various major infrastructural projects, the most notable of which was the relocation of the airport to Chek Lap Kok. The Force Escort Group and all regional units were heavily involved during the visits of Presidents Jiang and Clinton.

Several fatal accidents during the year resulted in the formation of inter- departmental working groups to address issues such as formulating legislation against reckless driving, expansion of the mandatory wearing of seat belts and enhancement of speeding enforcement. Studies aimed at developing a fully automated system of enforcing red-light cameras and fixed speed detection devices were also initiated.

There were 14 014 traffic accidents involving casualties in 1998, representing a decrease of 5.2 per cent compared with 1997. The number of fixed penalty tickets for