Enormous Challenge to the Force
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The security of the Olympic Equestrian Events poses an enormous challenge to the Police and the Force have experience, confidence, sufficient resources and expertise to tackle all challenges that may happen during the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian Events to ensure they are held smoothly, in a safe and secure environment for all participants.

The remarks was made by the Director of Operations, Mr Koo Sii-hong, today (July 30) at a press conference to review the work of the Police in the first half of 2008.

Mr Koo said that the Force had drawn up a detailed manpower plan. About 2,000 officers would be involved on an average day when no competitions are held. On a day when there would be an event in the morning and the afternoon, up to 4,000 officers were required for policing the Event.

"To further enhance venue security, a specialised Venue Task Force (VTF) has been formed. Its members have received intensive training regarding the venue security arrangments, policing concepts, operational procedures and Public Order Policing Strategy.

"A dedicated Equestrian Events Crime Team has also been formed to patrol around the venues and to handle all reports in relation to the Events," Mr Koo said.

He pointed out that comprehensive internal security and counter-terrorism capabilities were in place. The Force had also established mechanisms and contingency plans to deal with terrorist incidents. Regular exercises were conducted to test the effectiveness of the plans and to enhance the command, control, coordination and communications amongst different units.

"Risk assessments will also be continuously updated according to information and intelligence available. The Force will maintain close liaison with the Mainland authorities and overseas law enforcement agencies before and during the Events to ensure timely exchange of intelligence and security assessments," he said.

"Though there is currently no specific intelligence to suggest that Hong Kong is likely to be a target for terrorism during the Equestrian Events, the Force has been maintaining a high degree of vigilance and state of operational readiness commensurate with the prevailing threat level," Mr Koo stressed.

"The Force closely monitors the terrorist attack incidents or suspected cases occurred around the world at all times," he added.

Turning to the enhancement of road safety, Mr Koo said there were 7,187 traffic accidents in the first six months, a decrease of 235 cases (down 3.2 per cent) when compared with 7,422 cases in the same period last year.

Both the number of fatal traffic accidents and death caused by traffic accidents registered an increase of 4.1 per cent and 22.1 per cent respectively during the periods in comparison. The number of fatal traffic accidents increased by 3 from 73 in the same period last year to 76 this year while that of traffic fatalities also increased by 17 from 77 in the same period last year to 94 this year.

Mr Koo said that if the serious traffic accident, which took place at Sai Kung Nam Bin Wai earlier on, was avoided, the number of fatalities in traffic accident could have been remained steady when compared with the same period last year.

The overall traffic enforcement actions taken totalled 610,108 in the first half of 2008, representing a decrease of 1.5 per cent when compared with 619,088 in the same period last year. Enforcement actions were mainly targeted at offences which caused or would possibly cause traffic accidents.

Mr Koo appealed to members of the public to share the responsibility for road safety by developing a correct driving attitude to build a safe traffic environment. Through the concerted efforts and support by all road users, the road safety in Hong Kong would be further enhanced to avoid broken families caused by traffic accidents and the Road Safety Vision : "Zero Accidents on the Road, Hong Kong's Goal" could be achieved.

Mr Koo said the effort in combating Mainland illegal immigrants (IIs) for the first six months of 2008 had been good and a total of 1,218 IIs were arrested, representing a decrease of 325 IIs over 1,543 IIs in the same period last year.

He said that a total of 110 Mainland IIs were arrested for criminal offences from January to June this year, a decrease of 82 over 192 in the same period last year. The main offences committed by them were theft, forgery and immigration offences. In addition, 160 female IIs were arrested for prostitution, a decrease of 56 over 216 arrested for such offence in the same period of last year.

He explained that the decrease in the number of II arrested was attributed to the effective enforcement action taken by the Mainland law enforcement authorities and Hong Kong Police both at sea and land boundary.

In the first six months of this year, a total of 345 Vietnamese illegal immigrants (VIIs) were arrested, an increase of 52 over 293 VIIs arrested in the same period last year. 170 of them were arrested for committing crimes, an increase of 16 over 154 in the same period last year. The main offences committed by them were forgery, possession of offensive weapon and immigration offences.

"A total of 672 non-ethnic Chinese illegal immigrants (NEC IIs) were arrested between January and June this year, an increase of 144 over 528 NEC IIs arrested in the same period last year," he continued.

"Majority of the NEC IIs arrested were South Asian males. The nationalities of the NEC IIs are mainly Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. They were mainly involved in illegal employment."

Thirty-three of these NEC IIs were arrested for committing crimes, an increase of 12 over 21 in the same period last year. The main offences committed by them were forgery, using ID card relating to another and serious immigration offences.

"We have been taking rigorous and effective law enforcement actions to combat illegal entry activities and maintaining close liaison as well as exchanging information with the Mainland and overseas law enforcement agencies. The Force will continue to monitor the situation closely with the Mainland agencies and work in coordination with them to fight against these activities," he concluded.

Regarding the crimes committed by Mainland visitors (MVs), Mr Koo said from January to June in 2008, there were 7.77 million MV arrivals, of which 705 were arrested for committing criminal offences, an increase of 89 when compared with 616 in the same period last year. The main offences committed by the MVs were theft, forgery and serious immigration offences.

Between January and June this year, 1,556 MVs were arrested for involvement in prostitution, representing a 1.3 per cent decrease when compared with 1,576 in the same period last year.

The decline was mainly due to the strengthened cooperation between the Force and the Mainland authorities, imposing a stringent application process for Two-way Permits, rejecting entry of suspicious persons and conducting more raids.

For the past six months, the Force has taken a series of actions with other departments and arrested 933 illegal Mainland workers, which represented a decrease of 21 per cent with 1,185 in the same period last year.

To conclude, Mr Koo said, "Concerning street deception cases committed by MVs, enhanced publicity programmes will continue to be launched and focused on elderly people who are prime targets of such crime. All frontline officers will maintain vigilance in the prevention and detection of the crime."

Police Report No. 5
Issued by PPRB

Ends/Wednesday, July 30, 2008
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