Vulnerable Witnesses and Child Protection

The Child Protection Policy Unit (CPPU) and the five Regional Child
Abuse Investigation Units (CAIUs) took up 163 cases (136 sexual
offences and 27 physical abuse cases) for joint investigation with the
Child Protective Services Units of the Social Welfare Department during
1997. In all, 53 video-recorded interviews (all for sexual offences) were
conducted. The five CAIUs assisted other Crime Investigation Teams in
71 investigations (48 sexual offences, 19 physical abuse cases and four
others) resulting in a further 26 video-recorded interviews.

Up to December, a total of 97 police officers participated in special
training programmes conducted by overseas experts on video recorded
interviews with vulnerable witnesses, and 38 of these trained officers are
serving in the CAIUs. The training programmes covered various issues of
child protection.

In November 1996, a Witness Support Programme using trained
non-government volunteers or family aides of the Social Welfare
Department was launched. The programme aims to facilitate court
preparations of children and mentally retarded witnesses and to provide a
'support person' to accompany child and mentally handicapped victims
when giving evidence. Up to December, 58 such witnesses had been
provided with this service. A second training programme for a group of
newly recruited volunteers was held in October.

The CPPU gained access to the Internet in April to monitor the
development of child pornography through the systems of newsgroups,
chatrooms and bulletin boards. The unit liaises closely with the
Commercial Crime Bureau, which investigates individuals posting
pornography on the Internet.

In May, the unit organised a multi-disciplinary workshop on child sexual
abuse and a seminar on forensic evidence for various professionals.
Officers from this unit also attended a conference on 'Offences Against
Children' held in Argentina in March and a 'Child Pornography Workshop'
held in the USA in June.

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