The Judiciary Police (PJ) staged a mock operation wherein they rescued a female university student kidnapped by a gang of three men. The simulation was presented to the press yesterday afternoon.
A PJ spokesperson explained after the event that the main objective was to familiarize inspectors with operational protocols and procedures, as well as the mode of conducting internal and external communications and coordination in the case where a major event or crime arises.
The spokesperson added the PJ had deployed 80 inspectors and other auxiliary officers to conduct the drill.
Before the mock rescue, the police briefed the press at its headquarters to familiarize journalists with the operation.
Ho Wai Lok, head of section at the PJ’s Organized Crime Division, said a mock abduction occurred on November 11. The PJ received a report from a local university rector about a bicycle left unattended at a zebra crossing in the campus, leading to a suspicion that a student has been kidnapped.
To make the drill more authentic, the PJ hired a film crew to produce videos of the scene where the fake victim was supposedly kidnapped. Later, drone shots showed the location where the fake victim was being held.
Ho explained that a case of such severity would trigger the contingency mechanism and initiate the Crisis Contingency Control Centre. The center consists of 10 bodies within the PJ, such as Ho’s division, the Interpol sub-branch in Macau, as well as several other bodies concerning information technology.
Ho highlighted that in the mock case, the bank transfer interception mechanism was also triggered. It was used to suspend a partial payment of ransom conducted over bank wire transfer to a mainland bank account.
Furthermore, the PJ also obtained a warrant to intercept communications. The PJ pretended the kidnappers had contacted the victim’s parents over Chinese chat platform WeChat. In the mock investigation, PJ’s mainland counterpart was notified.
To make the drill further mimic real-life, the PJ pretended the kidnappers used fake car license plates and kept swapping cars to increase the difficulties of PJ’s investigations.
At the end of the drill, PJ inspectors managed to apprehend all the actor-suspects and rescue the victim.
The PJ does regular drills to ensure the smooth running of procedures of investigations and operations.
