PJ responds to growing digital crimes with new recruits and modified training

In response to increasingly complicated criminal behaviors, the Judiciary Police (PJ) has vowed to modify its training schemes at the Judiciary Police School and recruit more digital forensic officials.
According to the Judiciary Police School, a 35-year-old institution dedicated to cultivating local professional police officials, the requirements for educational qualifications held by candidates intending to enlist in the PJ are becoming higher.
The number of candidates who were engaged in law and information technology has also been climbing.
The institution offers pre-employment training for would-be inspectors and on-the-job training for existing staff.
Director of the Judiciary Police School Suen Kam Fai told TDM that the institution will strengthen the force’s sense of national security and knowledge in combatting internet crimes.
“Also, [the school] will proactively explore new training methods with the use of innovative technology to deal with the increasingly complicated environment for law enforcement,” Suen added.
The endeavors, he added, are designed to align with the government’s plan to develop Macau into a smart and safe city.
According to the data provided in February by the Secretary for Security, the city’s police force investigated a total of 10,057 cases in 2020, down 29.1%, year-on-year. Despite the overall drop, there were 531 computer crime cases last year, a two-fold uptick from the previous year, of which the cases related to illicit credit card use surged by 2.5 times to 411.
In response to the growing trend of digital crime, the PJ has begun to enlist digital forensic professionals.
“We already hosted the first round of recruitment. We hope that we can enlist people who specialize in digital forensics,” Luís Leong, head of Criminal Investigation Department at the PJ told TDM in an earlier interview.
The department aims to hire six senior forensic officers and eight forensic officers. The recruitment process is now at the information vetting stage, Leong said.
Over the past two years, 20 people resigned from PJ, most of whom retired from the Criminal Investigation Department. The overall workforce has remained very stable, according to PJ.

Police refer over 270 people to MP following operation

More than 270 people were referred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) following the month-long Winter Prevention Operation of the Macau Unitary Police Service (SPU), which investigated cases involving usury, drugs, theft and fraud, among others.
In a statement issued yesterday, SPU said that a total of 7,158 members of the police force were dispatched throughout the operation.
21,581 people were investigated in total, 1,132 of whom were taken back to the police station for further investigation and a total of 359 people were deported from Macau.
Among those that were referred to the MP, 18 persons were subject to detention and interception orders from the judiciary, seven of whom were immediately sent to prison to serve their sentences.
In addition, 121 persons suspected of illegal foreign currency exchange were also taken into custody.
SPU said in a statement that the operation had “achieved remarkable results,” adding that the overall environment of public security remains “stable and good.”
The operation took place from January 22 to February 21.