Superintendent, Field Division, Support Bureau, Charles Mitchell said the Force wanted to reduce the number of silent or non-emergency calls by five per cent by June 2000.

"A survey conducted last January revealed that an average of 5,640 out of 7,710 calls answered within eight seconds are found to be mis-dialled or nuisance calls," he said. "A breakdown of calls made to the Regional 999 console of the New Territories showed that an average 311 calls were made by children each day during the survey period, with a significant number of them making nuisance calls more than once a day."

Police attach great importance to the problem as any abuse of the 999 service results in a wastage of time and resources and affects the overall efficiency of the 999 service with the potential of putting lives at risk.

In an attempt to eradicate the problem, the Hong Kong Police Force is adopting a quick-response approach in their daily operations.

Each shift a police constable will be deployed to return calls to telephone numbers which are confirmed to be the source of nuisance calls made by children. The officer will speak to a responsible adult to clarify the origin of the calls, and advise that their children not make further calls in case of non-emergency. "This callback trial is being adopted because it is more important to raise parents' and children's awareness through education rather than prosecuting them under law," Mr Mitchell noted.

The survey showed that so far this year, of an average of 11,436 calls received every day, 3,494 or 30.6 per cent, were identified as abandoned calls.

Mr Mitchell pointed out 99.7 per cent of the answered calls were handled within an average time of 3.8 seconds, much quicker than the eight-second time as pledged by the Force. But of the answered calls only an average of 239 cases were later identified as emergency in nature.

When Chief Inspector Kieran Wright took over the role of Force Data & Access to Information Co-ordinator, one of the things he wanted to do was to make access to information easier for the public and thought that touchscreen computers in public areas of police stations would be a way to do it.

When he proposed the idea to Information Systems Wing, he was told that touchscreen computer information kiosks had already been suggested for the North Point Pilot Project ¡Ð but that they were only a concept.

From March to June 1998, Planning & Development was tasked to carry out designs for a new look Report Room at North Point Police Station using innovative designs and state-of-the-art features. A consultant designer/architect then worked with P&D Branch to develop the project. In the designs that resulted touchscreen computers as information providers were included and ITB was requested to develop the necessary software.

"I said I could do it for the Force very cheaply and within two months, so why not let me take it over?" recalled the Chief Inspector, who began designing computer programs for the Force when he was posted to Security Wing. Mr Wright, whose creative computer programming skills are self-acquired, developed many of Security Wing's computer systems and data bases including its computer network and intranet ¡Ð the first in the Force.

"The best computer skills can't really be taught ¡Ð rather you have to develop them yourself," said CIP Wright, who has a degree in Education and taught history and music (he plays trumpet, clarinet and piano) before joining the Force 13 years ago.

The idea of the kiosk was to do away with a lot of the information leaflets currently available at police stations (which need to be constantly replenished and reprinted when updated), while at the same time freeing up report room staff to deal with users who want to make reports as opposed to queries on specific subjects.

"If it's a straightforward report and the customer knows what to do, he or she can just proceed directly to the report room counter," explained CIP Wright. "But if there's a queue in the report room, or they aren't sure what to do, they can go over to the kiosks and look up the procedures or information there."

Take the Certificate of No Criminal Conviction, for example.

Mr Wright: "That service is only available at one office (on Nathan Road in Mongkok). If you telephone Directory Assistance, chances are they'll give you Police Headquarters or a specific police station, whose personnel may not be able to give you the information you need, i.e. the precise documents and information you have to bring along ¡Ð so you may end up visiting the office twice. The required details are now available in the new multi-media touchscreen computer kiosks, many of which are equipped with a telephone and hotline number connected through to the appropriate office.

"And it's the same for information on complaints," he continued. "And not just complaints that are police-related. The kiosks can also connect users to the Consumer Council, the Social Welfare Department, ICAC, the Ombudsman, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data and so forth. Users can access everything standing in just one place."

Employing multi-media and powerpoint techniques that include video, audio, photography and text, with a simple touch of the kiosk's screen customers to the report room can access (in Chinese or English) the full list of Force publications, information on Data Privacy and police recruitment, see how the police regions, districts and divisions are laid out, or contact other Government departments.

On one of the initial interactive screens, users press an icon and get a nine-button panel, the first of which denotes: "How to make a Report". Press that and you get a further nine choices broken down into categories such as: "Making A Crime Report".

"Loss Report", "Missing Person Report ¡Ð and so forth. Whichever one is pressed then provides information on that specific subject ¡Ð a powerpoint presentation of all the information a user needs.

Touching the Home or Exit icon presents users with hotline numbers which are specific to what he or she has been inquiring into allowing them to contact everything from banks and credit card companies to the Immigration Department. In North Point Police Station one of the three kiosks has a phone so you can call right away, or you can take down the numbers and call from the office or at home.

"Apart from getting the data right ¡Ð and the right data ¡Ð the biggest challenge was to give the kiosk a multi-media look and feel, so it was important to include moving pictures, video graphics and so forth," said Mr Wright. "I tried different approaches to get that modern outlook and at a later stage introduced the PPRB-produced Force video. It had to have a 21st century feel about it. So I concentrated on the creative aspects. The information itself was currently in circulation ¡Ð so that didn't slow me down.Ó

The physical design and makeup of the kiosk is also very modern with its flat LCD screen and sleek housing built into the overall scheme of the new report room. It blends in perfectly with the colours and modernity of the reception area which together create a "forward looking" feel.

"It doesn't look like we've borrowed the idea from somebody else,"said Mr Wright trying out the first kiosk after its installation into the counter area of the new North Point Police Station report room. "I've not seen a kiosk quite like this in any banks yet, so I think the Force is a leader in this type of service to the public. In fact, I can envisage such Force kiosks in shopping malls, stores and other public areas which would enhance the service that the Hong Kong Police Force offers to the people of Hong Kong.

Three kiosks have been fitted at North Point, one with a telephone dial-up service. One more kiosk is being fitted at each of Sau Mau Ping and Sha Tin stations by April (although the designs allow for three) to reduce initial costs and to allow for a review on public acceptance to be carried out before they are introduced as part of the Force-wide P&D Police Station Improvement programme, aimed at all stations over the next three years.