Question 1:
Discuss how the application of technology such as CCTV cameras and body-worn video
cameras (BWC) can affect policing work in fighting crime and managing public order
events, and examine the implications for police accountability and police-community
relationships. Illustrate your answer with observations on policing work in Hong Kong.
Note to students:
Relevant reference material can be found in Unit 6, mainly from pages 1–13 and the related
supplementary readings. Please do not give a summary of the reading material from Unit 6 for
your answer. Rather, we expect you to make some empirical observations on how the
application of technology has been affecting policing and police work in Hong Kong in terms
of crime fighting and the management of public order. In the past few years, Hong Kong has
experienced a number of public order incidents and there have been a few cases of alleged
police abuses leading to court cases. The way the Hong Kong Police handled these incidents
has been heavily criticised. In your discussion, you are expected to look into whether and how
the application of technology can make police work more efficient, effective and, more
importantly, accountable, which in turn might help to improve the HKP’s relationship with
the public in an increasingly politicised Hong Kong. The material from Unit 6 can give you
some initial ideas on answering this question, and you will have to make your own
observations in the case study of Hong Kong. You may only find scant relevant material for
the latter part of the requirement, which means you will have to rely on your own
observations of the state of affairs in Hong Kong, and discuss accordingly.
Question 2:
Discuss the various aspects of globalization and examine their impacts upon crime and
policing in society.
Notes to students:
This question contains two parts. The first part requires you to look into the various
understandings of the concept of ‘globalization’. In this part, you will have to discuss the
various aspects and debates that are involved in the conceptualization of globalization.
Relevant material can be found in Unit 7, especially the sections ‘What is globalization?’ and
‘Globalization’s impacts on policing modern society’ and the supplementary readings that are
recommended in these sections.
The second part of the question requires you to study the major impacts of globalization on
crime and its policing. Here, you have to discuss the ways that criminal activities have been
facilitated by the development of globalization, which in turn has been fuelled by
technological advancement leading to the increasing importance of cyberspace as a globalized
platform for criminal activities. Relevant discussion can be found in the section on ‘The
globalization of crime’ (Unit 7), and Supplementary Reading 7.2 by Findlay (1999) also
entitled ‘The globalization of crime’. In relation to cyberspace and cybercrime, relevant
discussion can also be found in the section entitled ‘The new social world: cyberspace’ in
Unit 6 (pages 16–24).
The impact of globalization on policing has been manifold. In many ways, it requires
cooperation across jurisdictions at different levels, as stated on pages 28–29 of Unit 7. As
background, you are expected to provide a very brief discussion of the different levels of
engagement of policing agencies. However, before cooperation can be worked out, there are a
number of problems to be tackled by policing agencies. You are expected to look into these
problems; relevant discussion can be found in Unit 7, pages 6–47 and in Unit 6, pages 34–43.
You may choose to illustrate your discussion with some case studies. Drug offences and
terrorism are used as examples in Unit 7. Any effort to go beyond these two examples will be
rewarded with a higher score. Note that you are given information on international police
cooperation in Europe. You are advised not to repeat at length the details of international
policing developments in that particular region; rather, you should make use of this material
discreetly as an illustration of your understanding of globalization’s impacts on policing.
Both assignment questions are quite straightforward and we expect you to demonstrate that
you have read the course materials, especially the supplementary readings. We are also
looking for the ability to select and make use of the most relevant material to produce an
essay that is well organized and argued within the word limit.