Regional and District Commanders and their PHQ equivalents are briefed by ACP IS Peter Halliday and key project staff members Mark Medwecki and Dennis Chan of the Information Services Wing	PHASE IB of the Formation Information Communal System (FICS) is due to start rolling out in November 1997. Users are now preparing for the new software and the changes to established practices that it will bring about. OFFBEAT took this opportunity to examine FICS' record thus far, and to peer a little way into the future. FICS is regarded as the premier system in the Force's IT strategy. It lies at the heart of police work, being the system with the greatest impact on the public. Its crown as the premier system is assured by cost, having gobbled up the lion's share of the IT strategy's budget - some HK$119 million.
What did users get for all this money? They were given a system that runs on its own data lines, the police data network (PDN). Security was uppermost in the designers' minds. Would-be hackers into FICS would have to bring along a pneumatic drill. Entry via the Internet is not an option at present, though the beauty of the PDN is that it runs on the Internet transmission protocol, so linkage to the net is feasible. Users were also given 1,180 terminals forcewide, together with local and networked printers. To protect data from loss each division or district has two servers, and a third backup server is located in each land region. This approach ensures that the system will not crash, though power cuts continue to be an issue for individual divisions. Lastly, users were given the FICS software written in the sybase computer language with a graphic user interface (software that uses pictures and buttons to execute commands), all running under Windows 3.1. The original concept behind FICS was to eliminate repetitive tasks. If a police officer had to write down the name or address of a witness, informant or AP in several different registers, the idea was to automate the process so that particulars typed once could then be reproduced in any number of forms. The core functions of FICS are the processing of bail, property, prisoners, the production of case papers, and the logging of reports. Phase 1A has introduced about half of these functions, and between November 97 and March 98, the Force will be given the rest of the functions under phase 1B. FICS appeared at a difficult time, somewhat later than planned, causing numerous logistical difficulties. However, compared with the roll out of similar systems the advent of FICS has been a triumph for which ITB deserve some credit. Reaction to FICS has been generally positive. Few officers disagree with its concept, though some feel that too much came too soon. Other criticism is directed at the design of the system - although it was the users (via the user groups) who asked for the design that was given to them. SP FICS, Mark Medwecki, has set up a new consultative machinery so that users' ideas can be tapped and a consensus achieved for new improvements. Users themselves have proved exceptionally resourceful and adept at overcoming their difficulties. Their "get up and go" attitude has been another factor behind the successful implementation of FICS. For example, FICS was designed to handle three report room handovers in one 24-hour period. Thanks to an imaginative approach by some users, the 48-hour week is proving no more difficult for FICS than for the manual system. FICS did not give the Force a paperless office, nor did it save manpower, nor cut public queues in report rooms. If anything it has (at least temporarily) done the opposite. If the queues, paperwork and police in report rooms do not eventually disappear, it will not be because FICS is to blame, as at present, but because we are doing more with less, coping with expanding workloads using the same resources. FICS should in time enhance, not hinder efficiency. What FICS does now, however, is integrate a myriad of data that was otherwise wastefully replicated, with little or no comparison, or cross utilisation. For example, under phase 1B all property will be matched with each other no matter where the property is stored, or what type of property it is. Matching prisoners' property with property that has been reported stolen on a routine basis is new. There is even talk of extending the property function to include pawned property matching. That will certainly lead to manpower savings. The possibilities for intelligence gathering and for criminal investigation using the FICS property function are exciting. Where public service will be enhanced is in the success of the matching, particularly regarding the location of lost or stolen property.
Users know that with all the data now being stored in FICS they have on their desks a potent management tool. What frustrates them is the gap between the FICS they have now and the FICS they dream of having. They want to mine FICS for its voluminous information, and then to have it presented in a digestible form that will be accurate and up-to-date. That is coming, for PHQ through HICS (Headquarters Information Communal System), and for the rest of the Force through improvements to report formats and additional infomaker templates. Eventually FICS will meet the dreams of its present users. Once RICS (Regional Information Communal System) has completed roll out in June 1998, and HICS becomes a reality, then the CIS project, which is on as grand a scale as any computer project anywhere on this planet, will be a major feather in the Hong Kong Police cap.	Wan Chai District PC Leung Chun-kwok: "FICS saves a lot of effort in storing and searching for data. In the long run, it will improve the work of report rooms"

FCC determined to deal with youth crime and drug abuse
Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan discussing youth crime and drug abuse with Fight Crime Committee members	WITH the support of community and police, the Government is determined to deal with youth crime and drug abuse said Chief Secretary for Administration and the Chairman of the Fight Crime Committee(FCC), Anson Chan, addressing more than 450 Fight Crime Committee and District Fight Crime Committee members as well as senior Government officials and police officers.
Speaking at the 1997 Fight Crime Reception, which is aimed to further strengthen the Committee's ties with the 18 District Fight Crime Committees, Mrs Chan said: "The first nine months of 1997 saw a seven per cent drop for juvenile offenders (aged between 7 and 15) and 14 per cent for young offenders (aged between 16 and 20) arrested for crime. Nevertheless we continue to accord top priority to tackling the problem of youth crime and steering young people away from drugs." This year's Fight Crime Publicity Campaign theme is "prevention of juvenile involvement in crime". Mrs Chan said the message would be put across vigorously through channels including schools and the mass media and an educational package would be prepared to educate students on crime prevention, civic responsibility, drug abuse and the serious consequences of committing crimes. Mrs Chan noted that this year drug abuse for those under 21 was down by 17 per cent. She stressed that vigorous law enforcement action would continue to be taken against drug traffickers, noting that the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance was amended this year to provide for heavier sentences for drug traffickers involving young persons in the drugs trade. Mrs Chan said funding support would be provided for a drug treatment and rehabilitation centre for young drug abusers and a counselling centre for young psychotropic substance abusers. Plans were also afoot to improve rehabilitation services for young offenders based on recommendations from two research projects commissioned by the FCC in 1996-97. Mrs Chan attributed the recent drop in the overall crime rate to the lowest in the past 15 years to the constant vigilance of police and the support of the community. Measures to continue the fight against crime include the deployment of 600 additional police officers in frontline operational duties; a strengthening of police intelligence and detection capabilities in tackling syndicated and organised crimes; and co-operation with security forces in Guangdong to tackle increasingly sophisticated trans-boundary crimes. "The District Fight Crime Committees have played a key role in fostering close co-operation between the police and the local community in our fight against crime," Mrs Chan said.