***************************************
Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, to a question by the Hon Lee Wing-tat in the Legislative Council today (April 6):
Question:
In her reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on January 19, 2011, the Secretary for Transport and Housing said that the Government and the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") had implemented certain measures to prevent sex crimes from occurring within the area of MTR stations. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of staff of the Railway District of the Police and of MTRCL who are responsible for security in the MTR network, with a breakdown by rail line and name of station as well as the working hours of the staff; given that there was an upward trend of the number of indecent assault cases which occurred in the railway premises over the past five years, whether it knows if MTRCL will consider providing more manpower to maintain law and order in railway network; if it will, of the details and the specific timetable; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) regarding the preventive and enforcement measures taken to strengthen patrol at blackspots and encourage passengers not to remain silent but report crimes to the Police or station staff should they encounter such incidents, of the resources, manpower and amount of money allocated by the authorities in this regard in each of the past five years; whether they had reviewed the effectiveness of such measures and explored measures which are more effective;
(c) of a breakdown of the number of indecent assault and "under skirt photo-taking" cases that occurred in the railway premises from 2006 to October 2010 by rail line, name of station, as well as the month in which and the hour at which such incidents occurred;
(d) of the details of the joint anti-crime campaigns held regularly by the Railway District and MTRCL (including members of the campaigns, number of such members, time and agenda) over the past five years, as well as the respective progress of the joint anti-crime campaigns in reviewing and formulating measures to combat offences in the railway premises in each of the past five years;
(e) whether it knows if the posters entitled "Don't be a Silent Victim, Report Indecent Assault", which were produced by the Police in collaboration with MTRCL, are at present displayed in each MTR station and train compartment; if not, of the reasons for that, and whether the Government or MTRCL will consider displaying such posters or other publicity materials at prominent locations in each MTR station (e.g. advertising boxes) and train compartment to encourage victims or witnesses of sex crimes not to remain silent but report crimes; if it will, of the details and the specific timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and
(f) whether the Government or MTRCL will consider setting up a team dedicated to handling the sex crimes which occurred in railway premises; if it will, of the details and the specific timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The security in the MTR network is looked after by the Railway Police District and the Mass Transit Railway Corporation Limited ("MTRCL"). Information given below pertaining to the measures taken by the MTRCL for security in the MTR network is provided by the Transport and Housing Bureau.
(a) The Police will adjust the establishment of the Railway Police District as necessary in the light of the MTRCL's developments and crime trends. At present, the Railway Police District has a strength of 370 officers. A detailed distribution of manpower is at Annex I.
As the Railway Police District will arrange internal redeployment in a flexible manner taking into account actual situation and needs, and work with various ground police districts to combat specific crimes, there is no fixed number of officers for each station or time slot. With this strategy, the Police are able to use their resources in a flexible and effective way, and tackle specific crimes in a purposive manner.
With regard to MTRCL, all of their station staff have received crime prevention training to assist the Police in combating crime. Station staff and station assistants are deployed to be on duty at stations on different railway lines as necessary. The main duties of station staff and station assistants are to maintain order and security at stations, manage passenger flow and provide assistance to passengers so as to ensure smooth operations. Station staff and station assistants are deployed according to the need of different stations at different times. In general, more station staff and station assistants are deployed to busier stations such as interchange stations. In fact, there are staff on duty 24 hours a day in all heavy rail stations. In 2010, the total number of station staff and station assistants at heavy rail and light rail stations was 2,937. The MTRCL considers that the existing number is adequate to meet the present need.
(b) To combat crimes in the railway premises, the Police deploy officers to strengthen patrols at crime blackspots. In addition, the public are also encouraged to co-operate with the Police by making prompt crime reports to the police or station staff should they encounter incidents or witness crimes, so as to bring offenders to justice. The Police also synergise with different organisations to promote anti-crime messages. For example, projects such as "Little Smart Cop" and "Senior Smart Cop" are regularly organised by the Railway Police District to encourage the public to report crimes actively and raise their awareness of fighting crimes.
The officers of the Railway Police District also organise talks on crime prevention for the MTRCL station staff. Moreover, "Project Eyes and Ears" and "Project Light Fingers" have also been introduced to strengthen co-operation among the Police, station staff and shop staff, and enhance intelligence collection for the combat against crime.
The Police also work with the MTRCL to disseminate anti-crime messages, including the production of a series of posters entitled "Don't be a Silent Victim, Report Indecent Assault". The posters are displayed inside railway stations to encourage victims of indecent assault to report offences. They have also organised "Stay alert, watch out!" anti-crime campaign to remind the public to stay alert and avoid becoming victims of indecent assault and "under skirt photo-taking" cases.
In respect of educating the public on crime prevention, the Police have produced short videos on the modus operandi of common crimes in railway premises for broadcast in the television programme "Police Magazine".
The maintaining of security in the railway network forms part of the work of the Police in the area of crime prevention and detection. The Police do not maintain a separate breakdown of expenditure in this regard.
On the whole, Hong Kong has all along been one of the safest cities in the world. Taking into account that about four million passengers ride on the MTR each day, the number of crimes that happened in the railway premises accounted for only 1.7% of the total crime in Hong Kong in 2010. The Police will continue to work actively with MTRCL and review the effectiveness of the measures from time to time in preventing and combating crimes in railway premises.
(c) The number of indecent assault and "under skirt photo-taking" reported cases in railway premises (excluding that on the Light Rail) from 2006 to October 2010 is set out in Annex II. The Police do not maintain a breakdown of figures on these cases by rail line, station, month and hour.
(d) The Railway Police District has maintained close co-operation with MTRCL. The management of both sides hold joint anti-crime and liaison meetings every two months to formulate measures to combat offences in the railway premises. Agenda items of such meetings will be determined by the prevailing crime trends in the railway premises. Strategies for combating different types of crime in the current year are discussed at such meetings. For example, regarding sex crimes, the Police work with MTRCL to promote anti-crime messages and to remind the public to be cautious of such crimes. Both parties conduct reviews from time to time on the effectiveness of the measures as necessary.
(e) With regard to the set of "Don't be a Silent Victim, Report Indecent Assault" posters jointly produced by the MTRCL and the Police, the MTRCL has displayed the posters at most of the MTR stations to encourage victims of indecent assault to report crimes. The relevant message is also disseminated through the electronic information displays in train compartments. The locations and the quantity of posters to be put up at individual stations are determined in a co-ordinated manner taking into account other passenger information needs. In future, MTRCL will study to organise more promotions in train compartments to effectively disseminate the message.
(f) The Railway Police District adopts a flexible deployment of manpower. In addition to high profile anti-crime patrols at various crime blackspots, uniformed and plain-clothes officers carry out special joint operations targeting at sex crimes. MTRCL will continue to work closely with the Police to deter crimes, including sex crimes in the railway premises. The Police will continue their active co-operation with MTRCL and review the effectiveness of its measures from time to time to prevent and combat crimes in the MTR premises.
Ends/Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Issued at HKT 17:12
NNNN