The 12th "Symposium on Police Studies of the Straits cum Hong Kong and Macao" was held from December 3 to 6, 2017, in Macao, bringing together over 200 participants from the Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao to share their views on the theme of "Big Data Thinking and Cross-boundary Policing Cooperation".

Commissioner Lo Wai-chung led a 28-strong Hong Kong delegation, comprising senior directorate officers, authors of theses, representatives from the Police College and staff associations as well as Director of Immigration Mr Tsang Kwok-wai and two members of Immigration Department, to take part in the symposium. A total of eight theses submitted by the Hong Kong delegation were selected for publication in the symposium's journal. Of these eight theses, five authors were invited to give a presentation on the topics of the application of big data in the fields of knowledge management, anti-money laundering, spam email investigation, counter terrorism and immigration management. In the plenary sessions, police officers, academics and experts from the four jurisdictions engaged in meaningful discussion on policing and law enforcement.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong delegates also visited Macao's Civil Protection Action Centre, Fire Services Headquarters cum Lago Sai Van Fire Station and Traffic Department of the Public Security Police Force.

With the delegates' active participation, the symposium concluded with fruitful results. It has encouraged exchange on policing issues and enhanced the participants' awareness on the application of big data in their work.