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Following is a reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, to a question by the Hon Lau Kong-wah in the Legislative Council today (January 13):
Question:
Quite a number of cases of objects being thrown from a height occurred recently. There were even cases of corrosive fluid being thrown from a height onto pedestrian precincts. Such acts pose serious threats to the lives and safety of the public. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has specific publicity plans (such as broadcasting Announcements in the Public Interest on the electronic media) to educate the public about the perils of throwing objects from a height; if it has, of the specific plans; if not, the reasons for that; and
(b) whether it will consider launching in residential areas certain award schemes (such as issuing commendations to public and private housing estates as well as buildings, in which there is no incident of objects being thrown from a height within a certain period of time, to demonstrate that the lives and safety of the residents have been safeguarded), and whether the authorities will raise the penalties for the relevant offences?
Reply:
President,
(a) The Government attaches great importance to incidents of objects being thrown from height, particularly the recent cases which have put public safety in great peril. The Police and District Offices (DOs) have stepped up their publicity and public education campaigns, including joining hands with the District Councils (DCs), owners' and residents' organisations, and property management agents to distribute leaflets educating the general public and local tenants against dropping objects from height. Police School Liaison Officers have also been arranged to advise students of the harm and serious consequences of throwing objects from height. Members of the public and all sectors are urged not to commit such an offence. The Police also devoted the modules for December 2009 of their TV programme "Police Magazine" to explaining the harm of throwing objects from height and the legislation in this regard.
In 2009, the District Fight Crime Committees (DFCCs) organised a total of four publicity campaigns against throwing objects from height, which included distributing publicity leaflets and posters, as well as displaying banners, urging the public not to throw objects from height and to enhance building security. A number of DFCCs also plan to discuss the issue thoroughly and keep up publicity efforts in their districts in 2010.
To step up action against throwing objects from height in public rental housing (PRH) estates, the Housing Department has recently launched a series of publicity activities on the latest combat and preventive measures, as well as the serious consequences of throwing objects from height, to remind tenants of the importance of civic-mindedness and encourage them to report incidents of objects being thrown from height through telephone hotlines. The activities include a seminar cum kick-off ceremony for some 400 members of the Estate Management Advisory Committees (EMACs) from all PRH estates; dissemination of relevant messages among PRH tenants through the EMACs, the Housing Channel, Announcements in Public Interest (APIs) on public broadcasting radio networks, posters, banners, leaflets and the estate newsletters; and publicity activities organised by the EMACs in collaboration with non-governmental organisations.
It is also very important that building management and security should be enhanced to prevent criminals from entering buildings to commit crimes. As for promotion efforts targeting owners of buildings, the DOs are committed to assisting the owners in their districts to adopt good and effective building management practices and to enhance services in building management including building security. Apart from assisting owners to set up owners' corporations, the DOs encourage owners to form residents' organisations, such as owners' committees and mutual aid committees, and to engage professional management companies or personnel, with the aim to improve building security and promote effective building management. The Police urges, advises and assists owners, as well as security and property management agencies, to take measures to strengthen building management and security in accordance with the situation of their own case. The DOs and the Police will continue to pursue active co-operation with the DCs and relevant organisations to conduct various building management courses and seminars on the importance of building security and the effective measures for preventing crimes and strengthening building security. Taking into account the need of individual districts, these courses and seminars will focus on the necessary information for the installation of security facilities, such as metal gates or closed circuit television system.
Meanwhile, there are on-going publicity campaigns and public education efforts targeting residents and business operators. The DOs and the Police, in collaboration with the DCs and the DFCCs, have been organising activities to remind residents and business operators in their respective districts of the need to remain vigilant and step up building security. During Christmas and the New Year in particular, the Police and DOs partnered with the DCs, DFCCs, area committees and trade associations to produce and distribute banners, posters and appeal letters in areas with high pedestrian flow to promote the message of tighter building security.
In addition, the Home Affairs Department has produced a new series of radio APIs to remind the public through electronic media of the need to develop a caring neighbourhood culture, be more vigilant, and pay attention to any suspicious figures entering and leaving the building. Owners are also encouraged to strengthen building security facilities. The radio APIs have been broadcast on radio networks since last Christmas.
(b) Dropping objects from height, which may cause casualties, is a serious criminal offence. Under Section 4B of the Summary Offences Ordinance (Chapter 228), if anything is dropped from any building to the danger or injury of any person in or near a public place, the person who drops that thing commits an offence and is liable to a fine of $10,000 and imprisonment for six months. If the incident involves offences of a more serious nature, such as the throwing of corrosive fluid or manslaughter, the Police may initiate prosecution according to other ordinances. The maximum penalty for these serious offences is life imprisonment. The Police will discuss the gravity of individual cases with the Department of Justice and pass the views to the court to facilitate sentencing.
To encourage the public to give information in helping with the detection of such cases, the Police has offered a reward of $1.7 million in total for the arrest of the culprit(s) for throwing corrosive fluid recently in Mong Kok, Sham Shui Po, Tin Shui Wai, Causeway Bay and Tuen Mun. Moreover, the Police organises the Good Citizen Award Presentation Ceremonies twice a year to commend outstanding citizens who have helped fight crime effectively. Land Regions of the Police also organise Best Security Services Awards every year to honour security guards with remarkable performance in their service. These awards also serve to encourage security and property management companies to improve the quality and effectiveness of property management by strengthening security facilities and improving the professionalism of their staff through training.
The EMACs of individual housing estates may organise activities on various themes with funds provided by the Housing Authority to step up promotion against throwing objects from height and encourage tenants to report such incidents.
Ends/Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Issued at HKT 14:20
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