In line with the Statement of Strategic Directions and the Commissioner's Operational Priorities for 2008, and in support of the Kowloon East Regional Action Plan, Railway District (RAILDIST) has thrashed out five priority projects after considering its unique policing situations.

The five projects are known as "Eyes and Ears", "Counter Terrorism", "Policing of the 2008 Olympic Equestrian Events", "Quality Human Resources Management (HRM)" and "Building a Secure Railway Environment through Design".

RAILDIST Training and Staff Relations Officer Wong Ka-keung told OffBeat that these priority projects underscore his District's continuing efforts and determination to deliver quality services to commuters and other members of the public. The projects also represent RAILDIST's compliance with Kowloon East Regional Commander's instructions to individual Formation Commanders to draw up their own action plans.

Introducing the objectives of the projects, Mr Wong said Project "Eyes and Ears" aims at engaging all stakeholders in the railway community, i.e. MTR staff, operators of a variety of shops in MTR stations and passengers, to gather intelligence and combat prevailing crimes within the railway system. Similarly, RAILDIST has been trying to enlist such support by implementing a "Police-Railway Community Support Scheme", which is based on the concept of neighbourhood policing.

Project "Counter Terrorism" is intended to boost RAILDIST's capability to prevent and deal with terrorist incidents in the railway system with a Railway Security Plan, which focuses on four areas, namely, Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Recovery.

Project "Policing of the 2008 Olympic Equestrian Events", said Mr Wong, reflects RAILDIST's important role in the forthcoming competition. "The role is to maintain a safe and secure railway system for the travelling spectators and the working staff," he emphasised.

He pointed out that Project "Quality HRM" seeks to strengthen RAILDIST's synergy efforts, especially those among frontline officers, in order to take up the challenges on the operational front. To achieve this objective, measures will be taken to enhance communication and cohesiveness among officers, and to reduce unnecessary reports.

In Project "Building a Secure Railway Environment through Design", RAILDIST will adopt a proactive approach to the police work to be brought about by future railway lines, and will introduce, during new lines' planning and design stages, the "Crime Reduction and Protection Against Terrorism Through Design" methodology.

Lastly, Mr Wong said that in a bid to imprint its Action Plan in the minds of all of its officers, RAILDIST had distributed copies of a specially designed handy calendar card, which features a poem in Chinese to remind the officers of the five priority projects. The card also contains the dates and venues of the Olympic Equestrian Events as a reminder to officers of their duty commitments to the competition.

TSRO RAILDIST Wong Ka-keung explains his District's Action Plan on a Training Day