Public satisfaction with the work of the Hong Kong Police Force is on the rise according to a customer satisfaction survey and a public opinion survey carried out in August and September.

The Force commissioned the University of Hong Kong's Public Opinion Programme to conduct the work, led by Dr Robert Chung.

It did telephone interviews with 1,024 people - informants, crime victims or  witnesses, aged 18 or above. All of them had contacted Police between May and July, by  visiting a Report Room, dialling 999, visiting a crime office, contacting Police at the scene of an incident or phoning a police station. 

A score of 5 indicated respondents were 'very satisfied' while 1 showed respondents were 'very dissatisfied'.

Eight out of 10 respondents were satisfied with their overall dealings with the Police. The mean score in this category was 3.95, up from 3.91 in the last survey, done in 2002.

Respondents rated the performance of the 999 consoles the highest of the five channels of police-public contact analysed. The Force received a mean score of 4.23 for the overall way 999 calls were handled.

The Report Room channel achieved a mean score of 3.88 for officers' on-the-job knowledge, up from 3.76 in 2002. The clarity of information officers provide in the Report Room was awarded a mean score of 3.87, up from 3.73. Handling of cases in the Report Room achieved a score of 3.98, up from 3.91.

Public-police interface at the scene of incidents scored 4.07, up from 3.95.

There are a few areas in which the Force saw slightly lower ratings. For example, it scored 3.49 for the "sense of ease" provided by the environment of the Criminal Investigation Office - a dip from 3.71 in 2002.

"Fairness officers demonstrated in handling cases" also saw a slight decrease, from 3.78 in 2002 to 3.76

The public opinion survey targetted a wider group of people, randomly selected Cantonese-speaking adults, aged over 18.

Respondents said they have "much confidence" in the Force, scoring it  4.13 - up from 3.78 scored in a similar 2001 survey.

Asked to rate the Force's overall performance on a scale of 0 to 100, from extremely bad to extremely good, the Force received a mean score of 74.9, an increase on the 70.4 received in 2001.

The survey found people's "perceptions of safety during the day" received a mean score of 4.24, an increase on the 3.96 attained in 2001. They feel less safe at night, though, scoring "perceptions of safety during the night" 3.79, higher than the 3.44 it received in 2001.

A significant survey finding was that only 8% of respondents had 'no opinion' of Police performance, down considerably from 32% in the 2001 survey.

The Force's Director of Management Services Mike Dowie said the results were excellent, representing the public pulse. He said they were taken seriously and that the Force would continue to identify areas of improvement.

"Let me assure members of the public that all our professionalism will be devoted to keeping Hong Kong one of the safest and most stable societies in the world and meeting peoples' growing expectations," Mr Dowie said.