Hong Kong – Forty citizens commended for helping police fight crime (with photos)

     Forty citizens who helped the Police fight crime were commended at the Good Citizen Award (GCA) Presentation Ceremony today (August 14).
 
     Speaking at the presentation ceremony, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Siu Chak-yee, praised the GCA recipients for their law-abiding consciousness, sense of commitment and courage. Mr Siu pointed out that this GCA Ceremony is different from the previous ones, not only does it first adopt a theme of “Anti-deception”, but also launches the “Good Corporate Award” to commend corporates which have been proactively assisting the police in the prevention and investigation of scams. The Force also encourages corporates to provide training for their employees to enhance their capacities to guard against fraud, so that reports and interceptions on fraud can be made earlier at corporate level.
 
     Also officiating at the ceremony, Mr Pang Wing-seng, a member of the Fight Crime Committee, said that with the development of information technology, the Police are facing greater challenges. He added that the “Anti-deception” theme this year could enhance public awareness on fraud and crime prevention, especially the recent increase in scams targeting elderly.
 
     Mr Watson Chan, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Policy and Business Development of Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, said the newly launched “Good Corporate Award” recognised the contributions of the corporates. He also commended the GCA recipients as role models for citizens.
 
     With the help of the 40 awardees, the Police detected dozens of cases related to fraud, burglary, animal abuse and wounding. There were also awardees who made their contributions in life-saving. 
 
     The youngest awardee, Ms Liu Wing-yan, aged 14, immediately alerted the victim to make a report to Police once she spotted a man secretly taking upskirt photos of the victim on a Light Rail train. The man was later convicted of outraging public decency and sentenced to fourteen weeks’ imprisonment with two years’ suspended sentence.
 
     The GCA is organised by the Police Public Relations Branch, sponsored by the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, and supported by the Fight Crime Committee. The GCA Ceremony this time has injected three new ideas: the adoption of the “Anti-deception” theme, the launch of the “Good Corporate Award” and the debut of the Force’s anti-scam mascot, “The Little Grape”. Besides, the GCA this year introduced a new concept of “Good Citizen Alliance”, which good citizens form an alliance to give play to their role as “good citizens” in different corners of the society, joining hands in fighting crimes, helping each other, and promoting righteousness in the community.