Since hitting the airwaves in 1973, the television programme “Police Magazine”, co-produced by the Police Public Relations Branch and Radio Television Hong Kong, had been one of the Force’s channels to disseminate messages related to fighting and preventing crime to members of the public.

In August this year, the curtain finally fell on this long-running programme which had been gracing TV screens across Hong Kong for 47 years. Two colleagues in the Force, Brandon Wong and Kiri Mok, were the hosts of the twilight generation of “Police Magazine”. Both of them acknowledged the need to keep up with the times and race against the clock when propagating messages related to fighting and preventing crime.

Brandon said, “Judging by our previous mode of production, it usually took weeks to negotiate the script, set the filming schedule and edit video footage, before an episode could be broadcast. However, a lot of the information in the programme would become outdated by then. As members of the public spend more time on social media, the dissemination of information has to be speedier and more interactive.”

As the historic mission of “Police Magazine” came to an end, the new programme “OffBeat On Air” is slated to greet the public on the Force’s Facebook page and YouTube channel every Thursday at 9pm, starting October 29. As its name suggests, the programme will be broadcast live. Tentatively, each episode will last for about 15 minutes, with Brandon and Kiri staying on as hosts.

With fighting and preventing crime remaining its main message, the programme will continue to appeal to the public to come forward with crime leads and introduce the work of different police units. However, the mode of production of “OffBeat On Air” will be worlds apart from that of “Police Magazine”. While the cast and crew comprise only Force members, in order to breathe new life into the programme, guest hosts will be brought in to take charge of segments on different topics right up their alley. Besides, there will be chat segments where viewers can put questions to the guests and hosts in real time.

The two hosts said, “When it comes to the guest list for the programme, we do not rule out the possibility of inviting public figures and artistes. We hope this will send sparks flying, in order to attract more views and attention from the public.”

Brandon said, “Although there has been a significant decrease in violent protests recently, some people who have been misled by untrue information in fact still harbour hatred towards the Police. We hope to help the Force counterbalance such bogus information via ‘OffBeat On Air’”. Kiri added, “A lot of lawbreakers were under the impression that they would be beaten up or sexually assaulted after being brought to police stations. It later dawned on them that those notions were pure fabrications. Through this new programme, we hope to help members of the public tell truths and lies apart in no time.”