********************************************************
The "Hang Seng Bank - Help the Police Fight Youth Crime Competition 2012" was launched today (April 30). This year's theme is the "Power of Friends", conveying the key messages of Combating Youth Drugs, Theft and Bullying.
Introduced in 1975, the biennial competition is one of the major crime prevention programmes organised by the Police and has been sponsored by Hang Seng Bank since 1994. The competition attracted a record number of more than 140,000 participants in 2010.
It aims to raise youngsters' alertness to juvenile crimes and foster a police-community partnership in fighting against youth crime.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Tsang Wai-hung, said that although the number of arrested young people aged between 10 and 20 dropped from over 9,000 in 2007 to over 7,000 last year, they included many offences, mainly wounding and serious assault, shop and miscellaneous thefts, and serious drug offences. He said he hoped that through the competition, young people could learn more about the consequences of committing these crimes, and that the competition would encourage them to help Police fight crime.
Also officiating at the ceremony, Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive of Hang Seng Bank, Mrs Margaret Leung, said the Bank is committed to youth development and building positive life attitudes among youngsters. She said she hoped the competition could bring together young people to spread anti-crime messages at school and to the wider community.
The competition consists of five categories: the Primary Group (Primary 4-6), Junior Group (Form 1-3), Senior Group (Form 4-6), Post Secondary Group, and the Non-governmental organisation (NGO) (youth service) Group, which includes youth uniformed groups subvented by Home Affairs Bureau.
Contestants will go through three phases of evaluation comprising a combination of web game, quiz, report on newspaper article, essay writing, project presentation, aptitude test and interview. Winners will be awarded scholarships and have the opportunity to represent Hong Kong as fight crime ambassadors in an overseas exchange tour in August.
Entry forms are available at the Police Public Relations Branch (PPRB), Police Community Relations Offices, Junior Police Call (JPC) clubs and Public Enquiry Service Centres of Home Affairs Department. The forms can also be downloaded from the JPC website. The deadline for applications for the Primary Group, Junior Group, Senior Group and Post-Secondary Group is May 20; for the NGO (youth service) category the deadline is May 31.
For enquiries, please contact the PPRB on 2860 6143 or visit the JPC website at http://www.hkpjpc.org.hk.
Police Report No. 217
Ends/Monday, April 30, 2012
Issued at HKT 19:09
NNNN
