The Good Citizen Award (GCA) Scheme, established by the Hong Kong Police Force and the Fight Crime Committee in 1973, has accompanied the public for 50 years and has recognized over 4,500 good citizens for their bravery and courage. The Scheme not only highlights the importance of police-community cooperation, but also demonstrates the Force's commitment to strengthening the bonding with the community over the years. The strong support of the HKGCC has been instrumental, it has been assisting in the management of the GCA Fund and sponsoring GCA Presentation Ceremony by awarding each Good Citizen.
Looking back the key crime in each decades of the past half century, the crime trend in different eras, from armed robberies in the 80s’ and 90s’ to the violence and quick-cash crimes in the millennium; since the handover in 1997, the number of serious crimes has declined significantly and has continued to reach record lows. Despite the determination of the Force to combat crime with Honour, Duty and Loyalty, it also demonstrates that Hong Kong citizen processed a strong sense of law-abidingness. In fact, it is not practical to rely solely on police to combat crime, especially all sorts of deception and scam cases emerged in recent years, instead, it is crucial for all citizens and stakeholders to play their roles and exercise their wisdom, calmness, activeness, and alertness in preventing, reporting, responding, and detecting crimes.
To mark the 50th anniversary of the Scheme, the Force has made significant revamps including holding major award presentation ceremonies in grand exhibition hall and live-streaming it on TV; and organizing GCA exhibitions at large scale shopping malls in five land regions throughout the year to spread the stories and good citizen spirit to the general public, and promote the law abidance awareness. We have also introduced the "Good Organization Award" to recognize organizations that have assisted the Police in preventing and combating crime. We hope the private sector can join hands to spread the good citizen spirit and anti-crime messages to the community.
I would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to HKGCC for its unfailing support over the past 50 years. While the monetary awards serve as a great recognition for the awardees, the HKGCC and its members’ determination in assisting the Force in fighting crime and promoting anti-crime message is even more important, so that the Scheme can continue and achieve a further 50 years of success.
As Commissioner of Police, I sincerely hope that the whole community can inherit the spirit of "Good people endeavor to help others" and it can be rooted in Hong Kong. The Force will do its utmost to work with the community in fighting crime and guarding the city.
Siu Chak-Yee
Commissioner of Police
