ANDY CHONG CHINA DAILY Raymond Siu Chak-yee, the commissioner of police of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, cautioned that the city still faces certain risks in national security and youth crimes, as many local activists have adopted soft measures such as spreading fake news in online platforms to confront the HKSAR government.
He said that the Police Force has learned lessons from the social unrest and constantly upgrades tactics to combat the spread of rumors and to deepen the public's understanding of the police work.
Siu said that although the National Security Law for Hong Kong has reduced anti-government activities, local activists still use soft confrontation approaches, such as using various media platforms to disseminate fake news, reports, and articles that demonize the National Security Law.
Siu said he spoke with a number of youngsters, including those who participated in the social unrest in the year 2019. They were affected by social media and the media. They spent at least four or five hours on the media every day during the COVID epidemic and were affected by the circulation of fake news.
The Force tries to clarify malicious accusations within two hours, and the Force tries to deal with that, Siu said. It has increased transparency of police work to remove the doubts and allay misunderstandings of the Force.
The former Police Public Relations Branch was upgraded to the Public Relations Wing PR Wing on July 15. The Public Relations Wing will make good use of technology and media to better introduce police work internationally and send officers to various international events to tell the true stories of Hong Kong, Siu said.
In light of the growing number of online scams and crimes, the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau, which was set to handle cybersecurity issues and carry out technology crime investigations, will closely monitor social media to identify dubious information and take action.
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The Force hopes to make good use of various platforms to promote law education and prevent youth crimes. He stressed that the police force's responsibility is not only the responsibility of promoting children's awareness of laws. Everyone in the community, including those from other law enforcement agencies, teachers, schools, parents, and media, play a critical role.
The police chief said that the Force faces a manpower shortage due to various reasons, such as the retirement wave, the shrinking labor market and increasing demand for a workforce to provide new infrastructure. According to Siu, the Force currently has 5,000 vacancies.
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The Force launched a program called Police University Recruitment Express PURE from Sept 21 to Oct 26 to recruit young people and set up booths in 11 local universities.
Students may apply for the positions of Auxiliary, Probationary Inspector, and Police Constable on the spot. Serving officers, who are university alumni, were sent to the booths to answer students' questions about police work.