Hong Kong counterterrorism unit set to launch hotline for tip-offs on suspicious activities with cash rewards for useful information
- In the first stage, 6366 6999 hotline will support SMS and WeChat reporting features, but officers will not pick up incoming calls
- People who provide tips that prove crucial in detection of terrorism-related crimes will be rewarded with cash after judicial procedures have ended
Hong Kong’s counterterrorism unit is set to launch a hotline on Wednesday for people to report suspicious activities and will pay cash rewards for useful tips.
The 6366 6999 hotline will support SMS and WeChat reporting features in the first stage but officers will not pick up incoming calls, according to Senior Superintendent Peter Leung Wai-ki, head of the Inter-departmental Counter Terrorism Unit (ICTU), which was set up in 2018 and comprises members from six disciplined services.
Leung said the unit encouraged informants from across industries, including property management, chemical supplies and mini-storage service providers, to offer intelligence on suspicious people who could have links to radicalism, terrorism or extremism.
He said overseas experience showed suspicious circumstances were usually identified in suspects’ daily lives by their family, friends or colleagues, who then alerted law enforcement agencies and eventually stopped terrorist attacks from taking place.
People who provide tips that prove crucial in the detection of terrorism-related crimes will be rewarded with cash after judicial procedures in the case are completed, with the amount to be determined under an existing stringent mechanism.
“We will consider a lot of factors, such as the seriousness of the case, its impact on society and the significance of the information,” Leung said, adding that police currently provided rewards of HK$400,000 (US$51,000) to HK$800,000 for useful information that helped crack murder or serious violence cases.
“I think those who provide information with good intentions will not mind the amount of the reward … But police will launch criminal investigations into malicious reports as the informants are wasting police time.”
Law enforcement agencies in countries such as the United States, Britain, Australia and Singapore also operate similar hotlines to combat terrorism.
