Off Beat

Cracking down on vice in Yuen Long

In cognito. CIP Steven Heathcote flanked by members of one of YLDIST's Special Duties Squads who are (from left to right): WPC Tsang Kwai-yee, PC Lam Sun-ming, SGT Fu Wing-yu, IP Ngai Chi-shung, PC Wong Chung-yau and PC Lee Tung-biu WITH the Asian economic downturn being felt in the once booming cities along the Hong Kong/mainland boundary, Yuen Long Town's proximity to the border has rendered it a target for mainland prostitutes who enter the HKSAR legally then breach their conditions of stay by plying their trade.
Adding to this are the growing number of vice active guesthouses, one-woman-brothels and bars providing the PR services of underage girls.
To rid the Yuen Long area of these vice establishments and the illegal activities that inevitably co-exist with them, District Commander of YLDIST, Trevor Oakes, is making every effort to prosecute or counteract organisations and persons profiting from prostitution.

To this end, rigorous action, using both overt and covert tactics, is being exerted on vice activities in Yuen Long District with a number of new police initiatives introduced to put pressure on the operators.
"For example," says CIP Steve Heathcote who leads the three vice-busting District Special Duties Squads in Yuen Long, "in addition to charging mainland prostitutes for Breach of Condition of Stay, we are now charging the person running a vice establishment with Managing a Vice Establishment and Living On the Earnings of Prostitution, as well as with Employing a Person Not Lawfully Employable under the Immigration Ordinance."
At the request of DC YLDIST, in May 1997 officers in charge of District Special Duties Squads were delegated the authority by Secretary for Home Affairs under the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance to take enforcement action against unlicensed guesthouses in Yuen Long Town. Since then, police decoy operations conducted by District Special Duties Squads have resulted in successful Managing an Unlicensed Guesthouse convictions and fines ranging from $10,000 to $20,000.
"This authorisation has proven to be a useful tool in Yuen Long District and could be utilised by other districts with a similar problem of unlicensed, vice active guesthouses," said CIP Heathcote.
However, the authorisation is now only delegated to certain post holders and requires renewal every 12 months, so DC YLDIST has requested that the legislation be amended to give police the powers of arrest/summons on a permanent basis, and that it be extended to officers not below the rank of sergeant authorised in writing by an Assistant Commissioner of Police, as is the case with the Protection of Children and Juveniles Ordinance. This will allow greater flexibility, efficiency and more vigorous action by various units including district and regional crime units.
"We also send warning letters to the owner/tenant of vice active villas for consideration to prosecute them for permitting or suffering these villas for vice activity," explained CIP Heathcote. "One-woman-brothels are also being targeted in a similar way with the registered owner of a premise sent a letter notifying them that it is being used by a prostitute. Some landlords don't know Ёа especially if they are living abroad. So, they then get a private lawyer to evict the prostitute. There's about 35 one-woman-brothels operating in Yuen Long Town at the moment.
One prostitute working alone, however, can claim that it's her own private residence Ёа and deny she is operating a vice establishment, or she will just set up business in another flat. Under the law, a residence is only deemed a vice establishment if there are two or more operators offering sexual services.
Guesthouses operating as vice establishments pose equally frustrating challenges to police trying to shut them down.
"Closure Orders are the best means to neutralise vice establishments and these premises are being targeted for such action," said CIP Heathcote. "There are, however, difficulties as operators use delaying tactics in court, jump bail, and try every trick in the book. At the moment, there are about a dozen vice active guesthouses which provide the services of prostitutes under the pretext of being legitimate. Four villas have been closed down, six are under an application for a Closure Order and ten guesthouses, under warning for a Closure Order, are being targeted for a second vice establishment offence.

YL VICE

"WE use police decoys. If the operator of a guesthouse tries to provide them with prostitutes, then upon conviction we apply for a Closure Order against the guesthouse. But you need to have two convictions within a 12-month period after a four-month grace period from the date of the first conviction. This grace period is a major hurdle as operators are free to carry on vice activities without fear of police securing a Closure Order. And although we charge the people in these guesthouses with operating or managing a vice establishment they're only the small potatoes Ёа finding the real (and elusive) bosses behind this illegal activity is the main goal.

Rather than assigning each of the three District Special Duties Squads in YLDIST to tackle a specific area such as vice, gambling or narcotics as has been the practise in the past, now each squad is responsible for tackling all three illegal activities creating a more manpower-intensive, concerted approach to fighting vice in general. In addition, in order to ensure the availability (and anonymity) of officers posing as customers, a steady supply of fresh police decoys is maintained in a decoy swap between Yuen Long and Yau Tsim Districts for one-day operations.

Said CIP Heathcote: "So, our vice squads will go out and get these cases. We join forces with Crime HQs officers in Yuen Long District, who then look at these cases on a more long term investigative basis and execute search warrants, debrief both the people we arrest as well as the customers Ёа and continually search for the link between these villas. It is not uncommon for the vice operations of three to four villas to be all connected and run by the same bosses.

At the same time a high-profile approach has been adopted by utilising Uniform Branch officers to conduct raids at villas under the Immigration Ordinance, as well as frequently visiting the one-woman-brothels and scaring customers away.

Regular, high-profile raids and undercover police decoy operations between District Special Duties Squads, Crime YLDIST and UB officers have also been extended to vice active bars and karaoke lounges. Underaged girls and boys found on the premises receive a stern warning and parents are requested to pick them up from the police station. Meanwhile, a master list is maintained by police of these underaged persons and those brought back on a third occasion will be detained and a Care and Protection Order applied for. This alone has had a strong deterrent effect on underaged youths frequenting licensed premises.

"Some people tend to think that prostitution is a victimless crime, but officers involved in combating it on a day-to-day basis can tell you there are many victims," said CIP Heathcote. "If we just allow prostitution to go on unchecked, the problem, and problems created by illegal activity associated with vice establishments - will increase. There has to be some control."

CIP Heathcote and Inspector Ngai Chi-shung examine the passport of a mainland prostitute arrested in one of Yuen Long's vice active guesthouses

THE appeal for dog-walkers and a temporary home for the new born puppies at the Police Dog Unit in issue 649 of OFFBEAT, elicited wide press coverage and an enthusiastic response from both Force members and the public. To date there have been over 300 requests from families and individuals willing to host and care for the pups for a year. Eight little canine constables have already gone to their host families, while the rest have to wait until they receive all the necessary vaccinations before they're ready to take up temporary residence with their foster families. The PDU would like to thank all those who applied to be dog-walkers and regrets that because of the limited number of puny pooches, more couldn't be given out.

( More Pictures in Photo Feature )