- Home
- Hansard & Papers
- Legislative Council
- 27 August 2002
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Study Tour
Printing Tips |
Print selected text
| Full Day Hansard Transcript
« Prior Item |
Item 118 of 122
| Next Item »
Page: 4272
The Hon. HELEN SHAM-HO [5.44 p.m.]: I report to the House on the second phase of my Commonwealth Parliamentary Association study tour into community policing, which I undertook between July and August. Before I begin, it is appropriate that I acknowledge that today is the Centenary of Women's Franchise in New South Wales. As one of the 66 women to become a member of this Parliament over the past 100 years I feel very honoured and privileged. I also take this opportunity to say farewell to the Hon. Elaine Nile, who resigned today after 14 years as a member. I wish her all the best for her retirement. It has been a pleasure working with her. Honourable members may recall that I undertook the first phase of this study tour last year, when I visited the police departments of Los Angeles, Toronto, London and Seoul. The purpose of this fact-finding tour was to broaden my knowledge of community-based policing with a particular emphasis on ethnic communities where relevant.
This year I visited the police departments of New York and Hong Kong. Both New York and Hong Kong have restructured their police departments in recent years and have experienced dramatic decreases in their crime rates as a result. Security at New York Police Headquarters was rigorous and thorough. I was required to undergo a couple of checks and to wear a photo identification badge. At police headquarters I met with Detective John Rowan, the Corporate, Diplomatic and Jewish Community Liaison; Detective Hector Lorenzo, the Hispanic Liaison; Detective Eugene Canapi, the Asian Liaison; and Detective Kevin Alexander, the Afro-American Liaison. I had lengthy discussions with each officer about their individual views and about policing ethnic communities. I am grateful to them. I learned a lot.
I visited the police station in Chinatown at Lower Manhattan, which is the fifth precinct of the 76 in New York, containing one of the largest Asian populations in New York. At this police station I met with Detective David Yat, one of the two community affairs officers in that precinct, and Glen Kresge, the Auxiliary Police Co-ordinator. I also spent several hours in two police car patrols in the fifth precinct, where I was able to observe how duty officers respond to calls and deal with the public first hand. The New York Police Department officially adopted a policy of zero-tolerance policing in 1994. This model of policing is based on the broken-window theory or the view that the strict enforcement of minor crimes will prevent the more serious crimes from occurring. While zero-tolerance policing is said to be the antithesis of community-based policing, it is my opinion that the two models are not necessarily incongruous. My study of the New York police suggests that zero-tolerance policing and community policing can co-exist, and that each model has its own distinct advantages.
The adoption of zero-tolerance policing by the New York Police Department has been accompanied by a distinct community-based policing approach. In recent years the department has devised and implemented a diverse range of community programs, with particular attention focused on building lasting relationships with the diverse cultural communities that reside in and around New York. While I was not in a position to analyse or assess the effectiveness or otherwise of these programs, the impression I got from both officers and members of the public in New York was that these programs have been very successful in developing relationships with the community and ultimately in reducing crime. In particular, I was told that the relationship between the police and the community in Chinatown has improved dramatically over the past few years. The community members to whom I spoke said that they now feel safe and that they trust their local police.
In Hong Kong I met with officers from the Police Community Relations Office and the Police Public Relations Branch at the Wanchai police station. These included Senior Superintendent Fan, Chief Inspector Kwan, Sergeant Chan and Sergeant Chow. I also met with Madam May-Li, a police sergeant, and was impressed by the fact that a woman occupied such a high-ranking position in a police station. Over the past year or so the Hong Kong police have introduced a number of programs designed to improve police and community relations. This shift to a more community-oriented policing model has also been accompanied by a distinct image change. The Hong Kong police force has tried hard to shake off its old image of a corrupt force and to replace it with the values of pride, professionalism and integrity. The police officers in Hong Kong to whom I spoke all said that they were proud to be police officers and that police recruitment has increased because of this image change. In conclusion, I thank the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and Russell Grove, the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, for enabling me to conduct this study tour. I believe that my knowledge and understanding of community policing have substantially increased as a result.
Last modified 05/12/2007 16:39:28 : Update this page