PJ holds talk with schools on Internet crimes

PJ director Chau Wai Kuong (center)

The Judiciary Police (PJ) has discussed crime prevention related issued with principals and representatives from 67 local schools, as well as representatives from the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau, Chinese Educators’ Association of Macau and the General Association of Chinese Students of Macau. PJ director Chau Wai Kuong said that he hopes the discussion can allow schools to understand the latest Internet-related crimes. He also suggested that it takes a social consensus to amend the law against computer crimes.
The meeting took place yesterday afternoon at the PJ headquarters, with 115 people attending the event. In his speech, director Chau stated that 62 primary schools/section and 48 secondary schools/section have participated in the PJ’s “School Safety Communication Network”, which seeks to foster cooperation between the police and the schools by enhancing young people’s knowledge of crime prevention but he said that there is more work to be done.
“In the recent years, there have been, from time to time, cases where young people were the criminals or the victims of crimes. This shows that the awareness youth have of law abiding and crime prevention is still weak. There needs to be further deepening and development in crime prevention education amongst young people,” he said.
Meanwhile, some participants have asked the PJ to share more information on criminal activities involving young people with schools, so that they can understand the thoughts of teenagers better. “I think it is not very appropriate for [us in the school] to discuss issues [related to criminal activities]. Therefore, if the PJ has acquired information when investigating some crime cases, would it be possible for PJ officials to share that information with schools so that we can understand the teenagers more?” An in-school counselor questioned.
After the meeting, Chau Wai Kuong was asked about his opinion of the amendment to the law against computer crimes. The director said that it requires a comprehensive amount of consideration and the consensus of society to decide whether to amend the law. “As a law-enforcer, of course I would want laws that allow us to collect evidence in an easier manner but we have to follow the law as well. [Any amendment] has to go through the Legislative Assembly, which is a body representing the residents. [Therefore, the amendment of the law needs consensus in society, which is the will of the public, not only the will of the police,” he said. JPL