Speaking as a guest speaker at the luncheon meeting of the Rotary Club of Kowloon East on March 3, Director of Management Services Chiu Wai-yin expounded the Force's efforts to engage the community and forge partnership with stakeholders.

 

Ms Chiu stressed that the engagement and partnership are vital for ensuring Hong Kong remains a safe and stable society. She said, "During Operation SOLARPEAK, many organisations and people from all walks of life offered staunch support for the police in various forms, including letters, email messages or visits to police stations. We appreciated from the incident the importance of community support and co-operation. 

 

"Community co-operation has all along been a crucial factor for the success in fighting crimes and maintaining law and order. It is also a prerequisite for maintaining Hong Kong as one of the safest and most stable societies in the world."

 

Ms Chiu went on to point out that the overall crime rate in Hong Kong decreased last year compared with 2013. It hit a new low since 1997, and was far lower than the figures of many metropolis. This was achieved due to not only effective law enforcement, but also the participation of law-abiding citizens in the fight against crime.

 

 

Noting that "Engaging the Community" has been one of the Force Strategic Directions since 2008, Ms Chiu introduced the Force policy in this respect. 

 

"The Force has formulated policies to establish contact with the sectors having special needs, for example youth, elderly and Non-ethnic Chinese (NEC). The Force has also strengthened communication with the business and industrial sectors as well as professionals for expanding the existing community network. The Good Citizen Award and Junior Police Call are the more popular projects known to the public.

 

"There are over 70 activities to engage the youths-in-need in different police districts, the more prominent ones being 'Operation Breakthrough' and 'Don't Drop the Ball' rugby training and fight crime programmes to inspire young people with sports. The 'Senior Police Call' was established early last year for enhancing communication with the elderly, developing fight crime partnership, and reducing their chance of falling preys to crime. This project has produced fruitful results. Last year, there was a drop in fatal traffic accident involving the elderly, and so was the number of elderly victims of abuse and deception cases," said Ms Chiu.

 

Ms Chiu said a Working Group on NEC Community was set up in 2006 for police districts to exchange experiences. Trial of a Project "TRANSLINK" is underway in Sham Shui Po, Tsim Sha Tsui and Yau Mai Tei, under which telephone interpretation in seven NEC dialects are provided through teleconferencing for NEC residents making reports in Police Report Rooms. The service helps frontline officers render assistance more effectively. In addition, the Force has adopted a multi-agency and cross-sector approach for maintaining regular contact with professional bodies, business and industries.

 

 

Ms Chiu added, "Policing is full of challenges. The delivery of quality police services is closely related to the support and co-operation rendered by the public as well as their confidence in the police.

 

"The Force encourages officers to take part in the biennial Civil Service Outstanding Service Award Scheme. It is good to see that the Force was awarded the 'Departmental Service Enhancement Award - Gold Prize' in 2011 and 2013. This year, the Hong Kong Council of Social Service has presented the Force with the 'Caring Organisation' Logo for the tenth consecutive year. In 2014, various surveys conducted by both local and overseas institutions ranked Hong Kong very highly in terms of safety and security, and the reliability of police services. They confirmed the high standard of the Hong Kong Police Force and proved once again that Hong Kong remains one of the safest and most stable societies in the world."

 

"The Force will continue to review its services and establish a long-term and constructive partnership with the public and stakeholders for enhancing service quality," Ms Chiu concluded.