Well-noticed: Peter Barnes and Kevin Laurie lay out the notices costing $93,500

Minor amendments to the Crimes Ordinance recently approved by Legislators now allow the simplification of certain Force notices, greatly reducing their size and therefore their advertising expense.

Whenever a person commits an offence under four sections of the Ordinance, such as using a flat for prostitution, the Force must publish a 'closure of premises' notice in an English and a Chinese-language newspaper.

Each notice not only states the premises details but must also carry the full text of the four sections, which often takes up to 80 per cent of the notice.

Several notices often appear together, consuming a huge amount of space. The amendments allow the four sections to be printed just once per issue, with all notices run that day referring to them.

Service Quality Wing Senior Superintendent Kevin Laurie said the move had the potential to save millions in the forthcoming years.

"As an example, the advertising for the 335 successful convictions from October last year to October this year cost $2,759,677."

"On December 15, 1998 alone, 15 such notices were printed in an English-language paper at a cost of $93,500," Mr Laurie said.

"We pointed this out and Crime Wing sought legal advice on a legislative amendment so that the notices could just simply refer to the four sections instead of printing them in full each time."

Crime Headquarters Superintendent Peter Barnes said the cost-saving opportunity was an excellent idea.

"With the proposal, we then went and re-formatted the notices, sought legal advice, canvassed opinions, re-drafted the new notices and sought legal advice again. With the law changed, we are now briefing frontline officers, publicising the issue and ensuring compliance," he said. "It was an excellent initiative by SQW and the move should bring about substantial savings."

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