Director of Crime and Security Lo Mung-hung led a delegation to attend the 83rd INTERPOL General Assembly in Monaco from November 3 to 7, 2014. Mr Lo also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on general police operations with the Indonesian National Police.

 

The General Assembly is INTERPOL’s supreme governing body and meets annually to discuss and implement major policy decisions. The 83rd General Assembly brought more than 1 000 officials together, including ministers, police chiefs and senior law enforcement officials from 166 INTERPOL member countries.

 

The Force delegation, which also comprised Narcotics Bureau Chief Superintendent Albert Chan and Liaison Bureau Senior Superintendent Crusade Yau, was part of the delegation from the Mainland led by the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Public Security, Mr Meng Hongwei. 

 

To celebrate its 100th anniversary, INTERPOL launched a major campaign known as “Turn Back Crime” with the aims of developing global awareness of the issues related to organised crime, providing a platform for a cross-sector response, and offering advice for the general public.

 

The conference also provided the opportunity for the delegates to discuss major strategic initiatives and anti-crime operations, including strengthening of international border security, terrorism, cyber crime, counterfeiting and organised crime.   

 

The delegates unanimously elected Mr Jrgen Stock as the new Secretary General. The 55-year-old former Vice-President of the German Federal Criminal Police succeeded with immediate effect Mr Ronald Noble, who was stepping down after 14 years as Secretary General.

 

Describing INTERPOL as the key player in the fight against transnational crime, Mr Stock said, “More than ever before, strong international organisations are needed, organisations like INTERPOL. Geopolitical conflicts, health risks, environmental threats, as well as terrorism, transnational organised crime and in particular cybercrime are challenges which cannot be overcome by individual countries alone.”

 

The presence of Mr Lo in Monaco also provided an opportunity for the historical signing of the MOU between the Force and the Indonesian National Police. Mr Lo noted in his closing remarks at the signing ceremony: “I hope that with the signing of this MOU there will be more frequent exchanges between our two Police Forces in different areas like high level visits, intelligence exchange, investigative assistance and training exchange”.

 

 

With the arrangements made by Police College, an 8-member delegation, led by Chief Inspector Li Siu-yu and comprising two Senior Inspectors, one Sergeant and four Police Constables, paid a study visit to the Tasmania Police in Australia from October 5 to 10, 2014. 

 

The delegation not only focused on the theme of the study visit, “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) Liaison Officers Network”, but also looked into areas of “Corporate Performance Report” and “Party Safe Programme”, gaining a valuable opportunity to benefit from the knowledge and experience of the Tasmania Police.  

 

The delegation members met the Commander of the Southern District in Tasmania, Mr Glenn Frame, and exchanged views on policing strategies and challenges with him. They also met the Tasmania Anti-Discrimination Commissioner, the Director of Community Development Division of the Department of Premier and Cabinet and some LGBTI Community Groups, with which the subject of LGBTI was explored.  

 

The LGBTI Liaison Officers Network was formally established in 1996 with a view to enhancing LGBTI community’s confidence in the Police and developing mutual trust.  

 

The delegation was also given briefings on different aspects of the local policing, including corporate reporting, police history, juvenile offences, recruitment and on-the-job training, Occupational Safety and Health, security and disaster response.  The delegation also headed for the base of Marine and Rescue Services to study their emergency handling and marine policing strategies and facilities. 

 

As well as having useful exchanges of views and policing experiences, the delegation members also forged close liaison with their hosts.

 

 

To help District Investigation Team (DIT) officers brush up their professionalism in crime investigation, the latest delegation of DIT officers, led by a Chief Inspector and comprising two Detective Inspectors, two Detective Sergeants and ten Detective Police Constables from various Districts, paid a study visit to Singapore Police Force (SPF) from November 17 to 20 last year.  

 

The Head of Training of the Criminal Investigation Department, Mr James Chan, first welcomed the delegation and introduced the structure of the SPF.  After this meeting, the delegation visited the Police Cantonment Complex and various crime units to study their crime fighting strategies, including the Unlawful Money Lending Investigation Branch, Secret Society Investigation Branch and Specialised Crime Investigation Branch. 

 

The Deputy Assistant Commissioner (Home Team School of Criminal Investigation), Mr Posh Lye Hen, also arranged for the delegation to tour the Home Team Academy and get briefings on crime investigation and the Forensic Training Academy. During the visit to a Land Division, the delegation members met frontline officers and shared crime investigation experiences. 

 

The study visit was a valuable and horizon-broadening experience for delegation members.