ENG-2000 — Page 379

PUBLIC ORDER

Public Relations

The Police Public Relations Branch (PPRB) plays a prominent role in explaining the work of the Police Force and maintaining good relations with the public with a view to enlisting their support in the fight against crime.

Police Community Relations Officers and Neighbourhood Police Co-ordinators in police districts liaise regularly with their local communities to explain police policies and priorities while School Liaison Officers give lectures to students on prevention of youth crime.

The Junior Police Call (JPC) scheme helps instil respect for the law among the younger generation and guide them towards a healthy and meaningful life. Apart from organising a wide range of activities for young people, the Police Force, in conjunction with Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), produces a weekly radio programme, Voice of JPC, to provide a forum for spreading crime prevention messages and promoting youth activities. At the end of 2000, JPC membership exceeded 160 000.

The Police Force and RTHK also jointly produce two weekly television programmes, Police Magazine (a 30-minute Chinese programme) and Police Report (a five-minute English programme) which appeal to the public for information on crime cases and arouse awareness of prevalent crime trends.

The Good Citizen Award Scheme and the Good Citizen of the Year Award Scheme, which were introduced in 1973 and 1984 respectively, are jointly administered by the Police Force and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. The schemes have so far given recognition to a total of 2 906 civic-minded citizens.

In 2000, the Police Force received a large number of calls on its hotlines and on Crime Information Forms reporting crime intelligence. Among them, the information given in 401 calls (excluding those to emergency hotline 999) and on 2 246 forms led to positive results and arrests.

The revamped police Internet home page attracted over 20 000 visitors during the year. The bilingual home page provides information on the Police Force, including its history and organisation.

The PPRB is also responsible for issuing permits related to film production when use of simulated uniforms or modified firearms and blank ammunition is involved. It also serves as a link between the film industry and police formations and plays a liaison role with other government departments.

Information on crime, police action and activities is disseminated to news organisations, both local and overseas, through the PPRB. Officers seconded from the Information Services Department (ISD) provide round-the-clock services to the media. During the year, they handled 220 482 media enquiries, organised 454 press conferences and briefings, attended 302 scenes of incidents to assist media coverage and issued 3 856 press releases.

The Police Force's full-colour fortnightly newspaper, Off Beat, and its home page on the Internet continued to provide information on police events, personnel and activities to force members, the media and the public. With the assistance of ISD staff, the Police Force also carried out fight crime publicity campaigns to spread relevant messages among the public.

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