Description

As the name suggests, a police visiting book box is used to hold a police visiting book. This traditional practice of using visiting books is still commonly used around the world as an effective administrative monitoring tool. However, when it was first adopted in the Hong Kong Police Force has been forgotten. In the old days, police officers were required to sign a visiting book to prove that they had been on patrol in the area at the right time. The visiting book contained the serial number, the date, the time of signing, the officer's details, the signature of the officer's supervisor, notes, etc. The visiting books were usually placed in high-risk areas, such as near banks and jewellery shops. In the 1980s and 1990s, there was a spate of robberies in banks and jewellery stores in Hong Kong. Special shifts were brought in to patrol those streets lined with banks and jewellery shops. The presence of a visiting book did increase residents' sense of security and sent a message to criminals that police officers patrolled the area. Today, with technological advancement, the role of the police visiting books has diminished considerably.