3 Photos
To further promote crime detection and prevention in partnership with the community, the Crime Prevention Bureau (CPB) held the SafeCity Ambassadors Appointment and Recognition Ceremony 2025 on May 16. Themed “Prepared for Change, United in Action”, the event highlighted that the Force would work hand in hand with the public and be flexible in meeting challenges.
In his speech, Commissioner Chow Yat-ming said that the Force strived to establish partnership with the community to maintain social stability. With the concerted efforts of the Force and the public, the overall law and order situation improved further in the first quarter of this year. There were a total of
20 756 crimes, a year-on-year decrease of 3%. Leaving deception cases aside, the overall crime figure registered a drop of 1 160 cases or more than 9%. The numbers of most traditional crimes declined significantly, with those of robbery and burglary cases falling by around 20 per cent respectively and that of violent crime reducing by over 10 per cent.
At the ceremony, the Commissioner awarded the SafeCity Crime Prevention Partner plaque to Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) in recognition of its unwavering support for bolstering crime prevention over the past year. HA responded promptly by putting up crime prevention posters in the lobbies and more than 5 700 lifts in 195 public housing estates. Moreover, Deputy Commissioner (Operations) Yip Wan-lung, alongside Acting Director of Crime and Security Chung Wing-man, presented the Crime Alerts Network Outstanding Contribution Award to ten excellent ambassador organisations in appreciation of their efforts to disseminate crime prevention messages. A new batch of 19 SafeCity Ambassadors from different industries were appointed on the day. They would team up with the Force to achieve crime prevention.
The effectiveness of the crime prevention website SafeCity.HK was also revisited during the ceremony. Since its launch in 2023, the website has recorded more than 12 million hits in aggregation. The content of the website has been continuously updated and a link to the Inter-departmental Counter Terrorism Unit has been added to enable the public to understand the threat of terrorism and strengthen their emergency response capabilities. CPB set up the Crime Alerts Network in 2022, where crime alerts are disseminated through instant messaging app to working partners. Currently, the weekly crime alerts are received by over 3.2 million people.
A “Timeline” exhibition was also set up and relevant videos were played at the venue, demonstrating how the Force has been formulating and adjusting crime detection strategies in response to the crime trend. It also underscored the emphasis placed on police-public collaboration when making all-out efforts to handle challenges.
