NCJ Number
74338
Date Published
1980
Length
13 pages
Annotation
The objectives of Hong Kong's Prisons Department are safe custody, treatment, and rehabilitation of offenders.
Abstract
The Department has a staff of 4,248 and administers 19 institutions including a Staff Training Institute. These institutions include seven prisons, a psychiatric center, two drug addiction treatment centers, two correctional institutions, two detention centers, a training center, a halfway house, a center for women and a staff training institute. The institutions serve different purposes and are governed by four different ordinances. Financing for the Department comes from a resource branch, the Finance Branch. There are posts for 3,643 officers and assistant officers in the Prison Service. Candidates must be under 35 years of age and female candidates must be unmarried; all must be educated to a certain level. Promotion is by satisfactory service and staff reports and recommendations by the head of the institution or a selection board. Promotion to senior ranks depends basically on merit and ability. The Staff Training Institute conducts 1-year recruit courses which include a period of field training for officers and assistant officers. The department also employs a staff welfare officer who visits all institutions regularly to ensure that staff wellbeing receives the warranted attention and who assists staff and their families with personal, financial and domestic problems. Matters which affect the working conditions of the staff are considered by two negotiating bodies within the department. A new area in the department is that of prison industries and new grades have been created for industrial officers.