Border District Commander Chief Superintendent Tse Chan-fai, who retired this month

THE restructuring of the Field Patrol Detachment (FPD) and the Border District has begun to pay off as evident in a drop in the area's overall crime rate during the first quarter of this year said Border District Commander Chief Superintendent Tse Chan-fai, who retired this month.

CSP Tse said that since the start of the amalgamation of the FPD with Border District last December the total crime figures in the area along the boundary have fallen considerably: "A total of 133 crime cases were reported in Border District in the first quarter of this year, a decrease of 45 cases when compared with the last quarter of 1997."

The detection rate is also improving, noted CSP Tse. "In 1997, 654 crime cases were reported and 279 were detected, showing a detection rate of nearly 43 per cent. In the first quarter of this year 64 cases in the border were detected - that's a detection rate of 48 per cent."

The amalgamation of the FPD with the Border District has been introduced in phases to better police and improve anti-illegal immigration duties in the Border District. In the next phase of amalgamation, which takes place on July 5, the Sha Tau Kok Division will absorb the anti-illegal immigration duties normally performed by the Police Tactical Unit company in the area.

"When the amalgamation is completed this October," said CSP Tse, who took up his post in September 1996, "police coverage and deployment in the Border District will be greatly improved. By then, disbanded PTU company members will be absorbed into each of the three divisions in the Border District and form the Border Enforcement Unit which will see officers serve from 18 months to two years - and work attractive five-day weeks."

Added CSP Tse: "Prolonged tenure will increase officers' familiarity with the area and its residents giving them an enhanced source of intelligence and a better idea of illegal immigrants' modus operandi leading to more effective strategies in combating them."

Moreover, CSP Tse points out, improvements to the management of the border will ensue with the command of the Border Enforcement Unit as well as day-to-day policing brought under the same umbrella (Sha Tau Kok, Ta Kwu Ling and Lok Ma Chau Divisions will be commanded by superintendents after the amalgamation). "The longer tenure of divisional commanders will allow them to build up better working relationships with their mainland counterparts strengthening the mutual exchange of intelligence. Indeed, close liaison and strenuous effort on both sides of the boundary have been contributing factors to the reduction of illegal entry from the mainland."

The number of illegal immigrants from the mainland arrested in Hong Kong fell at an annual rate of approximately 17 per cent from 1993 to 1997. A downward trend was also observed in the Border District with an average declining rate of 15 per cent per year.

The decrease in IIs and crimes committed by them was also partly due to the increasingly similar economies on both sides of the border. "The recent downturn in the local economy has also affected the number of illegal immigrants coming to Hong Kong," said CSP Tse, who joined the Force as an inspector in 1967. Since then he has served in various formations including CID, uniform branches, Training, PPRB, Traffic and a variety of uniform branches.