Hong Kong Police Review 2021

In 2021, the Force remained true to its aspirations of safeguarding national security and protecting the lives and property of the public. Working hand in hand with the community to prevent and fight crime, the Force successfully maintained public order and provided a secure place for our fellow Hong Kong people to live safely and prosperously. We are delighted to say that this is surely the Force's greatest achievement, and the motivation behind our unfailing efforts in protecting Hong Kong.

Fulfilling our missions with rock-solid conviction

As police officers, our aspiration has always been to uphold law and order and to protect our people. During the year, under the Force's rigorous efforts in improving public order and the community's proactive support, overall law and order remained stable. The total number of crimes rose 1.9% year on year to 64,428. Notwithstanding this increase, offences that matter most to the public, such as burglaries and robberies, decreased substantially and in fact hit a record low since 1969, at the same time registering the highest detection rate in the past 45 years. Crimes such as wounding and serious assault, snatching, pickpocketing, and 'disorder or fighting in public places' also fell to the lowest in a decade.

The uptick in overall crimes was mainly attributable to the rise of deception and serious drug offences. In this connection, the Force took proactive law enforcement action to bring down many cross-border fraud syndicates, organised large-scale anti-scam campaigns such as Anti-Deception Month in April, and launched the Anti-Deception Co-ordination Centre (ADCC) One-stop Platform to provide the public with comprehensive anti-scam information. The Anti-Scam Helpline 18222 manned by the ADCC also played a part in reducing victims' losses by intercepting a total of $2.3 billion in more than 800 deception cases.

In light of the significant increase in the arrest of young people for serious drug offences, the Force spared no effort in tackling youth-related drug trafficking and worked tirelessly to track down the drug syndicates behind the crimes. To help the public, especially the younger generation, understand the harmful effects of drugs, the Force organised an Anti-Drugs Month in June that adopted creative means, such as a virtual reality experience of dangerous substances and a drug scent simulator, to alert the public to drug abuse so that people would stay away from drugs. We also co-operated with outreach social workers, schools and parent-teacher associations to spread anti-drug messages to younger members of society.

Increasing cases of sex crimes and child abuse posed another great concern to the Force. In response, we launched 'Let's T.A.L.K.', a large-scale publicity and education campaign, in October to raise public awareness of the well-being of young people and children and to help youths better protect themselves. More than 60,000 members of the public and 350 schools took part. The hard work of our officers in safeguarding children has not gone unnoticed, as shown in a public poll online, where the Child Abuse Investigation Unit of New Territories North won the Spirit of Hong Kong Awards 2021 – Lion Rock People's Choice Award.

During the pandemic, the Force took its place alongside the people to ride out the difficult times. Be it tracing contacts, ensuring public compliance with infection control regulations through publicity, taking resolute enforcement action or cracking down on offences related to the health crisis, our officers remained steadfast in their duties.

Confronted with the many challenges in policing, our officers have been resilient and fearless, their source of motivation being their commitment to their conviction and mission, a quality demonstrated by every police officer. For our efforts to serve Hong Kong, there is no better reward than public acknowledgement. We took this much-cherished recognition to the small screen by co-producing six episodes of 'On a Mission' with a television station. The series presented true stories of people's appreciation for our officers, recording a viewership of more than 6.5 million, and was later compiled into an OffBeat Special Edition.

The Force welcomes dedicated individuals who share our values to join us. I am very pleased to see the debut of Police Recruitment Experience and Assessment Day in 2021, which has since proven helpful for potential applicants to find out about our selection process and training. The event attracted strong participation and was well received by those interested in working with us. It also helped bring in more new blood to ensure continuity in our splendid tradition and our dedication to honour and duty.

Supporting the frontline and striving for excellence

The safety of Hong Kong is inextricably intertwined with its prosperity and stability. According to the latest police survey, members of the public feel secure day and night with strong confidence in the Force. While our members have also expressed unswerving loyalty to the Force, their firm resolve to go the extra mile also helped in sustaining the Force's excellence.

To keep Hong Kong safe and stable, the Force must stay abreast of the times and proactively support officers discharging duties at the frontline. As the Chinese saying goes, 'One must move with the times to explore beneficial ways.' To foster digital policing, the Force rolled out the mobile application Beat App in 2021 to enhance through technology our professionalism in conducting interceptions and searches. This has achieved the dual effect of improving the safety and efficiency of our members while shortening the waiting time of the public. The Force also introduced the Rapid Oral Fluid Test to combat drug-driving, and new-generation motorcycles to boost its overall capabilities in traffic enforcement. At sea, the Marine Police put some new vessels into service, further strengthening the Force's capabilities in rescue and law enforcement.

In response to the risk of terrorist attacks locally and globally, the Force has been fostering public engagement in interdepartmental counter-terrorism (CT) exercises to raise the public's CT awareness and responsiveness. That is not all. The Force has also redoubled its efforts in the relentless pursuit of progress. The Financial Intelligence and Investigation Bureau was established in June, underlining the Force's determination and capabilities in further stepping up its crackdown on money laundering and terrorist financing. Meanwhile, the Commercial Crime Bureau and the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau were presented with the Minister for Home Affairs Operational Excellence Award by the Ministry of Home Affairs of Singapore – a strategic partner which has been collaborating with us to combat cross-border crimes – in recognition of the Force's outstanding work.

Engaging the community and the youth

To connect better with the community, the Force released a promotional film entitled 'Guarding Our City' in early 2021. Helmed by the renowned director Dante Lam Chiu-yin, the film highlighted the Force's professionalism in CT operations by showing how the Force raced against the clock to foil terrorism plots. Then in July, the Force held an exhibition called 'United We Stand' at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Through three thematic exhibition zones, namely 'Know the Facts', 'The Time Tunnel' and 'Police Voice and Appreciation', the Force emphasised the importance of rejecting disinformation and of building Hong Kong collectively. Feedback from police officers who took part in large-scale operations and the public's appreciation of the Force's work were also shared with visitors to the exhibition.

Following the success of the anti-scam mascot 'The Little Grape', the Force came up with 'Traffic Bear' in 2021 to promote road safety. Meanwhile two police dogs, Sunny and Zander, were appointed as programme ambassadors of the Animal Watchers Programme to enlist public support and assistance in combating acts of cruelty to animals.

The youth are the future of our society. Over the past two years, the Force's Working Group on Community Engagement has been devoting itself to improving co-operation between the Force and the 18 Districts' School Heads Associations and Federations of Parent-Teacher Associations. We have also strengthened interaction and mutual understanding with the education sector, parents and young people by offering visits to different Force formations and sharing sessions. In addition, the Force was invited by the Law Society of Hong Kong to organise visits to police units for participants of a programme called 'Teen Talk'. Through these activities, our colleagues took the opportunity to share their policing experience and challenges with young people, giving them a better understanding of the rationales and procedures of law enforcement as well as the obligation to observe the law.

Whether young offenders can rehabilitate depends on the community's acceptance of them. To this end, the Force co-organised with the Correctional Services Department the 'Walk with YOUth Programme' to help juvenile delinquents believe once again in the importance of abiding by the law, to equip them against being radicalised and to improve their relationships with family members. The programme linked up offenders who had repented with caring people in society. Professor Sung Yun-wing and his wife Dr Pauline Sung Chan Po-lin, for example, took the lead to establish Project Change, which pooled together multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral efforts to help responsible and rehabilitated young offenders return to school or work. We cannot bear to see our next generation being ruined by lawlessness. We need more devoted people to lead and reintegrate them into the community and guide them back to the right track, so that they can have hope for the future and contribute to society.

Safeguarding national security and staying ahead of threats

The Hong Kong Police Force lived up to its mandate of 'Honour, Duty and Loyalty' in safeguarding national security throughout months of riots. In January 2021, the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, and the Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Mr Luo Huining, visited the Police Headquarters and the Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station to extend their warmest regards to injured colleagues for their bravery in the face of violence. With its proven rock-solid determination, the Force remains as committed as ever to safeguarding national security. Since the enactment of the National Security Law, the Force's National Security Department had arrested 162 people as at December 31, 2021, on suspicion of endangering national security, and received more than 220,000 messages on its Reporting Hotline. For that, the Force would like to thank all the civic-minded residents who have joined hands with us to uphold the safety of our country.

On another front, the Force held an Open Day at the Police College on April 15 – the National Security Education Day, to raise public awareness of the importance of national security. On the same day, the Force's National Security Book and Publication Corner was set up at the Library in the Police Headquarters to deepen colleagues' understanding and sense of mission in maintaining national security. To demonstrate our loyalty to the Motherland and our pride in the country, the Force for the first time adopted the Chinese-style foot drill at the flag-raising ceremony of the anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR on July 1.

In late 2021, the Hong Kong Ta Kung Wen Wei Media Group presented the Force with the Hong Kong Spirit 2021 group award in recognition of our contributions to defending law and order in Hong Kong and ensuring the steadfast and successful implementation of 'One Country, Two Systems'. We are deeply honoured but never complacent. We are determined to get constantly prepared for danger in times of peace and strive for betterment. We will always remain vigilant and guard against any acts that endanger national security.

Conclusion

The year 2022 coincides with the remarkable 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the Motherland. Guided by the motto 'Serving Hong Kong with Honour, Duty and Loyalty', the Force will continue to stay true to its aspirations and work with all sectors of the society to safeguard national security and to protect the lives and property of our people. I am fully confident that, under the safe environment, prosperity and stability in Hong Kong will go from strength to strength, which would give momentum to the successful implementation of 'One Country, Two Systems'.