Pillar Point kids get JPC Club

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"Their laughter is no different from the local kids"

POLICE in Tuen Mun are bringing laughter, education and a sense of belonging to the children of Pillar Point - an open camp for Vietnamese refugees living in Hong Kong. All because Anthony Adzah, principal of Pillar Point's International Social Service School, rang up Police Community Relations Officer CIP Wong Tat-keung of Tuen Mun with the idea of establishing a Junior Police Call school club in his school which serves 178 Vietnamese children aged from 7 to 17.

Although the Tuen Mun Police Community Relations Office has set up Junior Police school clubs in 30 secondary schools and 25 primary schools in the district and has about 15,000 members, this was a first for a Vietnamese camp. The Junior Police Call school club in Pillar Point was formed in April with 74 students from the school being recruited as JPC members.

"At first, many Vietnamese parents were afraid that their children would become 'agents' of the police and hesitated in giving approval for them to participate. So we invited the camp interpreter to explain the JPC's objectives to them, after which they agreed to let their children join,Ó s aid JPC Liaison Officer, Woman Sergeant Sze Yuet-ming.

Junior Police Call school club members participate in fight crime and anti-drug carnivals, variety shows, police open days, sports competitions, camps and a variety of classes.

After forming their JPC school club, 19 Vietnamese children, together with other local JPCs, were given the opportunity to tour the Regional Command and Control Centre in the New Territories which sparked off a lot of excited conversation. This was followed by a JPC activity day inside the camp with all 74 members participating in a variety of games.

"Materially speaking," says Woman Sergeant Sze, "life in the camp is extremely poor. There is only one football playground and the children are seldom in contact with the local community because of the remote location of the camp to which there is no public transportation.

"Because they don't have experience in the outside world, they tend to find everything fascinating. While they are playing, their laughter is no different from the local kids. Most were brought up in Hong Kong and speak Cantonese very well. They have really welcomed the JPC activities."

Says school principal Anthony Adzah: "I was very pleased with the quick response of the Hong Kong Police in helping the children of Pillar Point. Any opportunity for these kids to have positive contact with the Hong Kong community is useful.

"Apart from providing the opportunity to make new friends, JPC activities strongly influence the students' concepts of law and order. It is will definitely have a positive effect in keeping the children away from drugs and other crimes that are all too common within the camp."


Kwun Tong porn busters

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Search and destory. Chan Po-lun, District
Commander D M Gunton and Angela Ng
Ho-chun display the spoils of war

Search and destroy. Chan Po-lun, Deputy District Commander DM Gunton and Angela Ng Ho-chun display the spoils of war

THANKS to the excellent work of the District Special Duty Squad 1 (DSDS) of Kwun Tong an obscene publication syndicate has been successfully neutralized and the district made a cleaner and more decent place to live.

Their operation began in late February when squad members noticed that some outlets in Kwun Tong were selling obscene VCDs under the guise of legitimate video shops. Enforcement action was taken resulting in several arrests with a substantial amount of obscene VCDs seized. By March, however, there were at least seven shops still selling obscene VCDs in the district.

"The sale of obscene VCDs is very profitable. The net manufacturing cost of a VCD is only $2, which in turn wholesales at about $20. In general, an obscene VCD can be sold at a retail price of around $80. Such profit margins undoubtedly attract triads and opportunists," explained Woman Chief Inspector of District Operations, Angela Ng Ho-chun.

So, stepping up their actions, the Squad began to focus not only on individual shops at retail level, but conducted a series of covert operations to identify targets at the wholesale level. As a result, two of the syndicate's storage depots in Tsuen Wan and Hung Hom were raided and 28,000 obscene VCDs seized along with the arrest and charging of eight porn distributors.

"As police actions became more intense, the pornographers were forced to run their business in a much more cautious manner - which made the police operation more difficult," said WCIP Angela Ng Ho-chun. "They began to employ code words and look-outs. In some instances the shops operated during selected hours known only to certain customers."

"Pressing on, DSDS incorporated into their strategy a closer liaison with the Kwun Tong Magistracy to highlight the degree of obscenity in these publications and the severity of the related offences in order to secure heavier penalties upon conviction.

In the past, the penalty for offences relating to obscene VCDs was usually a fine or a suspended sentence. To enable the Court to have a ready appreciation of the severity of the offence, DSDS took the initiative to highlight certain aspects of the cases in brief facts and other court documents - and to reproduce some of the obscene sections of the VCDs on Polaroids to provide an easy reference for the magistrates.

"I believe these initiatives have assisted magistrates in appreciating the level of obscene content and the extent of the problem," said Inspector Chan Po-lun of the DSDS 1. "In recent cases, most convictions were recorded with four to nine month terms of imprisonment. The intensive actions taken by the Force and these more severe sentences have a great deterrent effect. Many pornographers now think twice before opening up shop."

And so they should - in April and May alone, DSDS 1 KTDIST arrested 18 porn sellers, seizing 208 obscene video tapes and 30,283 obscene VCDs valued at over $2.4 million.

"Though our recent successes have made police operations in Kwun Tong much more difficult, we do not intend to decrease our efforts in the war on pornography," WCIP Ng said.


In the line of duty

"The people of this community owe you a debt of gratitude. I hope that your bravery will be recognised in an appropriate way"
- Mr Justice Frank Stock

THE bravery of one of Hong Kong's finest, Police Constable Yip Chi-man, in doggedly pursuing an armed criminal even after being forced to the ground at gunpoint, was recently praised by a High Court Judge for his outstanding conduct in the line of duty.

The judge's praise followed his handing down of an 18-year prison sentence to 35-year-old Chow Yuk-hing after he pleaded guilty to armed robbery and the use of a firearm with intent to resist arrest.

"Although you were doing what I am sure many other police officers would have done, you are nevertheless a brave young man,"Mr Justice Frank Stock told Constable Yip, who was in the courtroom to witness the sentencing.

"This defendant chose to take out a gun and point it at you after you had apprehended him. Then ordering you to lie down to make good his escape Ð y ou still gave chase knowing full-well that he was armed and dangerous.

"By doing that you put your life at risk, and you did so in pursuit of your duty as a police officer for the protection of members of the public. You were following the finest traditions of the police force in this territory . . . This community owes you, in particular, a debt of gratitude . . . I hope your bravery will be recognised in an appropriate way."

Mr Justice Stock's remarks sent feelings of pride through PC Yip, who humbly said that he had only done what a police officer should do under such circumstances - that he "was only doing his job".

He clearly remembers, however, how quickly a routine day turned into a dangerous encounter . . .

The incident happened on 22 June 1995 after Chow and an accomplice held up a jewellery shop in the Peninsula Hotel and made off with Rolex watches worth $1.1 million.

At that time, plainclothes PC Yip Chi-man from the Tsim Sha Tsui Anti-crime Patrol Task Force was in a police vehicle with two people he had arrested for touting in the area. As they headed towards the TST police station, the police officer saw a hotel security guard running along Nathan Road. PC Yip had the vehicle stop and was told that a robbery suspect had run into the MTR station.

"I caught up with Chow, whom I believed was the suspect, as he was passing through the turnstiles and I pushed him against the wall to carry out a body search,Ó r ecalls Yip. As he was doing so, however, Chow put up resistance and drew a pistol. He pointed the gun at PC Yip and ordered him to lie on the ground.

"It was the first time that I'd ever been so closely involved with an armed criminal," recalled PC Yip, who was too busy to be afraid. Instead, his police training kicked in .

"I felt no fear when I was threatened at gunpoint. I was trained to be highly alert in dealing with armed criminals in similar circumstances and to take into account the safety of people on the street."

After Chow turned around and headed for an exit, the police constable immediately gave chase and at the same time informed Police Console about the armed suspect's location.

PC Yip then heard a gun shot which left a schoolgirl wounded in the arm by a bullet which Chow claimed was fired accidentally. Still, Yip continued his pursuit.

Chow managed to escape and fled the territory - but was captured on 5 June last year at the Lowu border checkpoint.

"I am glad to learn that police work wins recognition," said PC Yip who is now with the Commercial Crime Bureau.

He said the good work of Kowloon West Regional Crime Unit was also indispensable in tracking down the criminal.










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