Wong made the remarks during a forum marking the 2nd anniversary of the TV and radio programme “Police and Residents, Same Mission” at the Secretariat for Security (GSS) in the S. Francisco Barracks. The programme is produced by the secretariat and aired by government-owned broadcaster TDM.
Representatives of community associations which have participated in the programme attended the forum.
Addressing the forum, Macau Property Management Business Association Chairman Paulo Tse said the current procedures for police officers to request CCTV footage in private buildings have often caused
misunderstandings between the police and property owners.
“A private building’s CCTV footage belongs to the building’s owners, and the security guards cannot hand it to the police without consulting them,” said Tse.
Responding to Tse, Wong confirmed that officers have often encountered difficulties when trying to obtain CCTV footage from private buildings for investigations.
“When a crime happens, the police try to get the related CCTV footage as soon as possible in order
to solve the crime and for the sake of public security, but their requests are often declined by the building’s security guards” said Wong. He added that the police sometimes are forced to watch the footage on the premises of private buildings as they are not allowed to take it away.
Wong said the police forces would come up with guidelines for the police to acquire CCTV footage
from private buildings to avoid future misunderstandings.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the forum, Wong declined to comment on whether he regarded
Uber’s exit as a law enforcement success, but said that “anyone who doesn’t obey the law should leave.”
Wong said his mindset is to “enforce the law and obey the law”. Taxi hailing app Uber said in a
statement on Monday that it would “temporarily suspend” its ridesharing operation in Macau starting
from 23:59 p.m. on Friday.
Macau’s police forces had frequently warned Uber that the US company’s passenger transport service
was illegal since it was unlicensed. Consequently, the police imposed hefty fines on local Uber drivers.
Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak (centre), flanked by Unitary Police Service (SPU) Commissioner-General Ma Io Kun (left) and TDM Administrative Council Vice President Manuel Pires, addresses yesterday’s forum at the Security Secretariat (GSS) in the S. Francisco Barracks. Photo: Annie Cheung
