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 The curvaceous KFT 34A for women |
LAST year, 350 holsters were acquired for issue to
firearms trained women officers. These new KFT 34A holsters are different from the GXW
34/34A holsters currently issued to male officers. They are designed to fit more comfortably
against the female body - particularly the hip.
All women officers have the option of choosing either GXW 34/34A or KFT 34A. KFT 34A holsters have been issued to formations for loan to firearms trained women officers who wish to try the new holsters before they opt. |  ...and the straight-shooting gents' GXW 34/34A |
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It is stressed that firearms trained women officers do not have to change their holsters unless they are not comfortable with the old ones. To date 139 KFT 34A holsters have been issued. | ||
Tuen Mun police officers are praising a new computerised identi-kit system for its ability to increase their working efficiency and accurately finger crime suspects . . . | |
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THANKS to the trial introduction of the new
Artificial Intelligence Crime Analysis and Management System (AICAMS) in Tuen Mun,
officers in EU NTN vehicles will have the ability to quickly and accurately reconstruct the facial
characteristics of suspects in a notebook computer based on descriptions and information taken
from eye-witnesses and victims at the scene of a crime.
"The traditional process of using a transparent slide based identification kit which creates a composite of a suspect's face and head by super-imposing a series of plastic films containing different facial features and hair styles is time consuming and entails witnesses returning to the police station (often the day after the crime) where the identi-kit can be spread out on a table to facilitate use," said Senior Inspector William Leung of Tuen Mun's District Crime Squad. |
 The state-of-the-art AICAMS-FIT catches criminals by giving them face |
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The new computerised identi-kit - the AICAMS-FIT (facial identification tool) - provides a quicker, more accurate identification process allowing witnesses, with the aid of a mouse, to amend the shape and facial features of a suspect on the screen in a much shorter time - and at the crime scene when a suspect's appearance is still fresh in the memory. Added CIP Hilton Chan Kwok-hung of the Criminal Intelligence Bureau: "Because a quick, visible working result can be achieved with this new computerised system on site in an EU vehicle, the accuracy of the identification is greater - as is the likelihood of apprehending the culprit improved." The working prototype AICAMS was developed by the Chinese University of Hong Kong in collaboration with the Force. Tuen Mun was identified as an ideal trial site for the system because the District is relatively self-contained and has little cross-boundary crime with the majority of offences being committed by local residents. This means that the various AICAMS functions can be made to work on a local network which is true of the AICAMS-FIT. "Furthermore, the ability to construct a suspect's description quickly and at the scene is extremely useful in terms of apprehending them before they have a chance to leave the District," explained SIP Leung. AICAMS-FIT is only one of the system's three major integrated components, the other two being a map base system (AICAMS-MAP), and a knowledge base system (AICAMS-KBS). AICAMS-MAP allows users to obtain detailed information of a particular case displayed on a detailed map of Tuen Mun (locations of high-risk premises, licensed premises, convenient stores, footbridges, subways, etc, are being collected and they will be made available as new display layers) by "point and click". The map also allows the project team via the application of Global Positioning System to consider better management, command and control ideas as well as to task mobile patrols and beat officers. AICAMS-KBS assists the detection of crime cases by the application of artificial intelligence. The knowledge base system has to be developed over time as it needs the data of a significant number of cases before it can apply its artificial intelligence to the analysis of new information. "The objective of the three integrated systems of AICAMS is to improve the tasking and deployment of police resources, as well as to improve detection rates of reported crime and help reduce incidents of crime," said CIP Chan. During the first phase of the Tuen Mun trial which began last July, only the AICAMS-FIT option was operational. With the aid of the system and other investigation methods, Tuen Mun crime officers were able to apprehend several suspects whose facial composites were very accurately rendered. Phase two will see all three functions of the system implemented employing nine new personal computers, including two notebook computers with modems in EU vehicles. "The AICAMS-FIT programme is now available for operational use to interested Districts. Training and instruction are being designed by project officers in consultation with Crime Records Bureau. The Force is also looking at ways of upgrading the present transparent slide based identi-kit," SIP Leung said. | |
