PJ holds ‘serious crime’ drill with 50 officers

The Judiciary Police (PJ) conducted a drill yesterday morning to reinforce sub-units’ capacity to respond in a multidisciplinary exercise, said Cheang Pou Seong, head of the Community Policing and Public Relations Division, to the media in a briefing before the drill.

Fifty PJ officers, including technical staff from various departments and divisions, participated in the drill. The exercise was held at two different locations in the Ilha Verde area.

Afterwards, Cheang noted that all the processes had run successfully and that notes taken during the exercises “will contribute to our continuous training and improvement.”

The drill simulated a scenario in which a group of criminals were trying to steal a bag of gold and jewelry from two men.

The jewels in the scenario had been brought into Macau illegally after being stolen from another jurisdiction.

The initial part of the drill involved PJ officers stopping and detaining some members of the criminal group. In the second part of the drill, police simulated the raid of an apartment where the remaining members of the group were hiding with firearms and bladed weapons.

The drill also allowed police to show the media what procedures are done after an operation in order to collect evidence and conduct a crime scene search and investigation, involving several teams and a variety of equipment.

In answer to media questions, Cheang noted that the force intends to continue performing these types of drills annually as part of officer training and operations.

The drill will take place every year during May and June.

The official added that “next month we are going to have another drill, this time focused on negotiation [of a hostage situation].”

When questioned on whether the scenarios chosen for drills were related to criminal trends or case types that are expected to occur more often, Cheang said, “Not exactly. The PJ does this kind of training constantly and independently if the cases [reported] justify it or not. We seek training in all possible scenarios.”