"If there is a dark side to increasing globalization, then it surely stems from the increased scale of transnational crime," said Tsang Yam Pui, the Hong Kong SAR's commissioner of police.

Tsang made the statement ahead of a four-day Transnational Organized Crime Conference due to be held in Hong Kong on March 18.

Entitled "Bridging the GAP - a Global Alliance Perspective on Transnational Organized Crime", the conference will consider a broad spectrum of criminal activities threatening the international community, Tsang said.

Hong Kong police sources said more than 400 delegates are expected to attend from around the world.

"Its primary aim is to strengthen the operational, legal and cultural frameworks that enable law enforcement agencies around the world to cooperate effectively in the fight against transnational organized crime," Tsang said.

Computer crime, money laundering and the changing trends in narcotic offenses all pose serious threats to society, Tsang said, noting that such threats cannot be addressed by law enforcement agencies working in isolation.

"It is essential, if we are to combat these threats, that we increase the levels of cooperation between governments, law enforcement agencies and communities themselves," he said.

The hosting of the conference befits the Hong Kong police force, as the force has a long-time tradition of knowledge sharing and international cooperation.

Within the Hong Kong police, the crime wing, for example, has recently organized a series of experience-sharing sessions to enhance its officers' work knowledge and broaden their horizon.

Introduced since last December, officers from the Crime Wing attend the monthly sessions voluntarily in their spare time, said Crime Headquarters Superintendent Peter Barnes.

Crime wing's Senior Inspector Teresa Chiang, the coordinator of these meetings, said, "Various topics are covered, including the laws and legal system in the mainland. We also invite specialists such as Department of Justice officials to share their expertise with our officers."

One of the sessions arranged recently was on the development of the force's Commercial Crime Bureau's Technology Crime Division.

In the aspect of international cooperation, Senior Superintendent Philip Sham is one of the Hong Kong police who has much experience to share.

Sham has been trained in the International Faculty of National Police Training in the United Kingdom, where he has spent some 20 months developing police training programs under a secondment arrangement between the UK and Hong Kong to run international police training activities in the UK and other countries.

But the knowledge Sham gained from the training does not only benefit Hong Kong. Sham was on a trip to the city of Brasov in Romania recently to develop a police management course for the police force there.

"This training course, which is the second of a series of three programs, dovetails with the reform strategy of the Romanian Police in preparation for the country's accession to the European Union," Sham said.

"It bears a special meaning to me for being able to provide training and work with colleagues from the motherland, and to be able to give assistance and support to them in a foreign country," Sham said, recalling a training management program he developed for a delegation of senior police officers from Zhengzhou public security bureau in Henan Province in March last year.

Police management, Sham said, is a universal and cross-cultural practice with increasing globalization of the world.

So the Transnational Organized Crime Conference to commence on March 18 will live out the spirits of international cooperation and knowledge sharing.

Chairman of the Organizing Committee for conference and Assistant Commissioner of Police Peter Yam said, "While transnational crime has been identified as a threat to society for three decades now, advances in telecommunications and dramatic increases in all modes of international travel which facilitate world commerce can just as easily encourage transnational criminal activities.

"The fact that the conference will be attended by officials from some of the highest echelons of international and national law enforcement bodies are obvious reflections of the importance these top crime fighters attach to the subject and also the high esteem that the Hong Kong Police Force now enjoys among its peers overseas," he noted.

Commenting on the four main areas of transnational criminal activities, Yam said multi-national efforts to combat drug trafficking were the most well-established type of international law enforcement cooperation.

The conference would seek to examine recent developments, including changes in the types of narcotics currently crossing borders, he said.

Notable keynote speakers at the conference will include, amongst others, Director of Criminal Investigation Department of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security Zhang Xinfeng, Secretary- General of Interpol Ronald Noble, the United Kingdom's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Sir Keith Povey.

( March 16, 2002)