The increasing demand for housing will necessitate the development of many places in Hong Kong, especially development of new towns in the north-eastern part of the New Territories. Under this situation, frontline officers would have to deal with more disputes arising from land developments.

 

To enhance frontline officers' ability to handle such disputes and avoid unnecessary complaints, Complaints Against Police Office (CAPO) launched a project known as "Project PEACE" in September last year. Under the project, CAPO has designed guidelines and organised training and seminars for officers.

 

A Working Group for the project headed by Superintendent (CAPO NT) and comprising representatives from Regions as members, has designed a series of operational aids to help frontline officers deal with land disputes in a more professional manner. The aids include:

 

Action Card - The card provides guidelines on handling land disputes and contains the telephone numbers of District Lands Offices and District Offices.

 

Referral Form - The form refers land dispute reports to the appropriate government departments after obtaining consent from members of the public at scene.

 

Defensive Dialogue Poster - The poster assists frontline officers in responding to public enquiries in a more professional manner while handling land disputes on site. The poster (with dialogues for preventing complaints) will be distributed to Districts for reference.

 

Whilst the Action Card and Defensive Dialogue Poster will be widely distributed to frontline officers next month, a pilot scheme for the Referral Form will be run in Yuen Long District (YLDIST) from this month to June. Feedback on the scheme from YLDIST officers will be collected before the scheme is rolled out Force-wide.

 

As the public may have the wrong impression that police will only refer land disputes not involving crimes to other government departments for follow-up action, the Working Group has produced a video clip on the authority and roles of the police in land disputes. The video will be uploaded to YouTube and the Police Public Page, and played in report rooms for public viewing.

 

In addition, the Working Group organised a seminar last month, where officers from Lands Department and Home Affairs Department, YLDIST and Crime New Territories North shared with the audience their experience of handling land disputes as well as their views of the subject. A similar seminar will be held this month.

 

Contact CAPO NT2 at 2860-6457 for enquires on "Project PEACE".