ENG-2001 — Page 396

PUBLIC ORDER

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The new Marine Radio Communication System was implemented during the year. This system includes a radio voice system that provides police launches with digital- based data as well as a capability for locating vessels automatically. The new system enhances the deployment of the Marine Police fleet and also heightens the headquarters command functions. A launch replacement project was also under way: two new 'Keka Class' launches, along with two barges and six interceptor launches, would join the fleet in the next few years.

Public Relations

The Police Public Relations Branch is responsible for explaining the work of the Police Force to the public, and building up good relations, with the aim of enlisting public support in the fight against crime.

Police Community Relations Officers in police districts have developed close ties with their local communities to disseminate information on police policies and priorities. During the year, 33 Secondary School Liaison Officer posts were created to implement the Secondary School Liaison Officers Programme. The aim of this programme is to establish and maintain close liaison with school management, school social workers, parents and non-governmental organisations in preventing juveniles from falling prey to crime.

The long-established Junior Police Call (JPC) scheme continued to organise various activities for young people to help them build up positive values and stay away from crime and, in turn, to assist the police in fighting crime. 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. JPC membership totalled around 160 000 at year-end.

Two weekly television programmes, Police Magazine (a 30-minute Cantonese programme) and Police Report (a five-minute English programme), jointly produced by the Police Force and RTHK, have been successful in appealing to the public for information on crime cases and raising people's awareness of prevalent crime trends.

The Good Citizen Award Scheme and the Good Citizen of the Year Award Scheme, jointly administered by the Police Force and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, commended exemplary and civic-minded citizens who helped the police combat crime.

In 2001, the Police Force received useful information from calls to its telephone hotlines and also from its Crime Information Forms. The information given in 739 calls (not including those to the emergency hotline 999) and in 1815 forms led to positive results and arrests.

For the first time, the full text of the Hong Kong Police Review was uploaded onto the Police Force home page for easy access by members of the public. Its first electronic edition in CD-ROM format was well received. Moreover, the Internet version of OffBeat, the force's full-colour fortnightly newspaper, was revamped during the year to make downloading easier and faster.

Officers seconded from the Information Services Department (ISD) provided round-the-clock services in disseminating information on crime and police action to the media, both local and overseas. During the year, they handled 277 880 media