Overall law and order situation remains stable
The overall law and order situation in the first six months of 2010 remained stable with decreases in the overall crime and violent crime figures, according to Director of Crime and Security Tang Kam-moon.
Speaking
at a press
conference on August 4 to review the crime situation between January
and June this year, Mr Tang said that during the period, a total of
37,726 crime cases were recorded, representing a decrease of 3.2 per
cent when compared with the same period last year.
Violent crime
Mr Tang pointed out that the top three categories of violent crime were serious assault (2,640 cases), criminal intimidation (1,161 cases) and wounding (956 cases).
"The total number of serious assault and wounding cases in the first six months this year was 3,596, a decrease of 7.4 per cent when compared with the same period last year," said Mr Tang, adding that about 73.5 per cent of these cases were caused by various disputes, whilst domestic violence cases accounted for 17.1 per cent and triad related ones, for 7.1 per cent.
"With respect to criminal intimidation cases, a total of 1,161 cases were recorded, a decrease of 1.1 per cent when compared with the corresponding period last year. Among them, 27.1 per cent were related to domestic violence, 20.4 per cent to debt collection and 3.7 per cent to triad."
Turning to homicide cases, Mr Tang said they were down from 27 to 17, representing a 37 per cent drop. Of concern was the fact that 12 or 70.6 per cent of the cases were related to killing of family members or relatives.
Mr Tang pointed out that the number of robbery cases was 379 (down 11.9 per cent) in the first six months of this year. This is the lowest figure since the handover of sovereignty in 1997 and none of the cases involved genuine firearms.
He said a total of 922 cases related to triad offences were recorded, a drop of 17.5 per cent. Triad related cases accounted for 2.4 per cent of the overall crime figure.
"Police take triad-related crimes very seriously and have adopted a comprehensive strategy to deal with triad-related persons and their activities. The ratio of triad-related crimes to overall crime has been controlled at a low level, which has dropped from the peak level of 3.9 per cent in 1997 to the current level of 2.4 per cent."
Pickpocketing and miscellaneous theft
"Quick Cash" crimes totalled 15,800 cases, representing a slight increase of 0.8 per cent mainly due to the rise in pickpocketing and miscellaneous theft, which increased by 44.6 per cent and 1.9 per cent respectively.
The increase in pickpocketing cases was brought about by the increasing number of tourists visiting Hong Kong and bigger crowds in shops and public areas. The Police have strengthened publicity in crime prevention and stepped up patrols at black spots.
Sexual offences
Mr Tang said a rise was recorded in violent sexual crimes, including rape and indecent assault. There were 54 rape cases, an increase of two when compared with the same period last year.
A total of 775 cases of indecent assault were recorded in the first half of this year, a rise of 19.8 per cent or 128 cases, compared with the same period of 2009.
Mr Tang said during the period there were eight rape cases and 16 indecent assault cases in which the victims got to know the offenders through Internet activities. The figures were the same and down by 10 cases respectively when compared with eight and 26 cases in the same period last year.
"In this regard, the Police will spare no publicity efforts to prevent people from falling prey to acquaintances they meet on-line," he said.
"Targeting sexual offences related to making friends on-line, Police have produced a set of instructional materials for secondary school seminars, where students are reminded of the things to beware of when making friends on-line, including the possibility of financial loss or sexual abuse," he added.
Unlawful off-course betting
To effectively combat unlawful off-course betting activities during the 2010 World Cup, Police had formed a special group co-ordinated by the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau to devise operational plans for foiling illegal soccer betting and co-ordinating the similar tasks of all units.
Successful Police actions against illegal off-course betting activities during the World Cup netted a total of 235 persons who were involved in illegal betting worth $361 million. When compared with the last World Cup in 2006, these represented an increase of 39 persons arrested and $286.5 million of illegal betting records seized.
Drugs trafficking and abuse
Regarding the fight against trafficking in and abuse of dangerous drugs, Mr Tang said a drop in serious narcotics offences was recorded for the first time in recent years. In the first six months of this year, a total of 1,133 serious narcotics cases were recorded and 1,500 persons were arrested for serious narcotics offences, a drop of 25.9 and 22.7 per cent respectively when compared with the same period last year.
"Cases involving psychotropic drugs decreased by 27.5 per cent, with Ketamine decreasing by 27.1 per cent and heroin dropping by 18.9 per cent," he said.
As regard drug problems among the youth, 396 youngsters were arrested for serious narcotics offences, a drop of 35 per cent, compared with the same period last year. Over 90 per cent of them were involved in psychotropic drugs.
It is worth noting that besides the significant decrease in the number of youngsters arrested for serious narcotics offences, there was also a decrease of 342 or 33.5 per cent, compared with the same period last year, when 680 youngsters were arrested for all narcotics offences in the first six months of this year.
In view of the abundant supply of dangerous drugs in the global market as well as the existing demand in Hong Kong, Police will focus on combating drug related crimes, in particular youth drug abuse, in the second half of the year.
Domestic violence
In the first half of 2010, there were 1,105 domestic violence crime cases, representing a drop of 7.4 per cent when compared with the same period last year.
Mr Tang said Police believed that early identification of problematic families, early intervention, timely support and appropriate referrals are the most effective ways to deal with domestic violence.
Although cases of domestic violence related crime were on the decrease, the recent murder cases arising from domestic violence had attracted public attention. Police will continue to adopt a multi-departmental and multi-discipline approach to identify as early as possible families that have problems, and refer them to relevant departments and professional bodies for assistance and support services.
Random Breath Test effective deterrent
There were 103 drink driving related traffic accidents in the first six months of this year, a decrease of 35 (down 25 per cent) when compared with 138 cases in the same period last year. In the same period, a total of 492 persons were arrested for drink driving, a slight increase of one per cent when compared with 486 in the corresponding period last year.
Mr Hung stressed that RBT had achieved a significant deterrent effect and Police action will continue.
Turning to the upsurge of drug driving incidents since mid 2009, Mr Hung noted that the issue had prompted the need for effective measures and legislation.
"The Secretary for Transport and Housing commissioned an inter-departmental working group in March this year to work out effective legislation to combat drug driving," said Mr Hung, adding that Police are monitoring drug driving incidents closely.
He also took the opportunity to remind members of the public that it was an offence under Section 39 of Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap 374) for a person to drive a motor vehicle on the road while under the influence of drink or drugs to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of the motor vehicle.
Road Safety
Reviewing the general situation of
road safety in Hong Kong, Mr Hung said the number of traffic accidents
and casualties in the first half of 2010 recorded a decrease when
compared with the same period last year. The number of traffic
accidents was 6,833, representing a decrease of 137 or two per cent
when compared with 6,970 in the same period last year.The numbers of fatal traffic accidents and traffic fatalities registered a drop of 21 per cent and 26 per cent respectively during the periods in comparison. The number of fatal traffic accidents decreased by 15 from 70 in the same period last year to 55 this year while that of traffic fatalities also decreased by 20 from 77 in the same period last year to 57 this year.
Traffic enforcement actions totalled 612,972 in the first half of 2010, representing an increase of one per cent when compared with 603,932 in the same period last year. Enforcement actions were mainly targeted at the offences that had caused traffic accidents.
Mr Hung pointed out that a series of operations were conducted targeting drink driving, professional drivers and pedestrian offences. For publicity, he said anti-drink driving, pedestrian safety and cycling safety are the themes for road safety campaigns in 2010/11.
"We will continue to enlist the support of all road users for our efforts to enhance road safety," he added.
Illegal immigrants
Turning to the issue of illegal immigrants, Mr Hung said the number of Mainland illegal immigrants (MIIs) showed an upward trend and a total of 1,144 MIIs were arrested, representing an increase of 188 MIIs over 956 MIIs in the same period last year.
He said a total of 73 MIIs were arrested for criminal offences, a decrease of 24 over 97 in the same period last year. The main offences committed were theft, forgery and immigration offences. In addition, 203 female MIIs were arrested for prostitution, an increase of 113 over 90 in the same period of last year.
A total of 163 Vietnamese illegal immigrants (VIIs) were arrested, a decrease of 92 over 255 in the same period last year. Fifty-seven of them were arrested for committing crimes, a decrease of 44 over 101 in the same period last year. The main offences committed were forgery, theft and immigration offences.
"A total of 179 non-ethnic Chinese illegal immigrants (NEC IIs) were arrested between January and June this year, a drastic decrease of 421 over 600 in the same period last year," he continued.
Eight of these NEC IIs were arrested for committing crimes, a decrease of 13 over 21. The main offence committed was using ID cards belonging to others.
Crimes committed by MVs
Regarding the crimes committed by
Mainland visitors (MVs), Mr Hung said there were 10.37 million MVs, of
whom 573 were arrested for committing criminal offences, a decrease of
65 when compared with 638 in the same period last year. The main
offences committed were theft, forgery and serious immigration offences.A total of 1,698 MVs were arrested for involvement in prostitution, representing 0.7 per cent increase when compared with 1,687 in the same period last year.
In the past six months, the Force took a series of actions with other departments and arrested 615 illegal Mainland workers. This represented a decrease of 33.3 per cent when compared with 922 in the same period last year.
Mr Hung said the decreasing trend of illegal immigrants (IIs) was the result of continuous focus on the interdiction and enhancement of the security measures at both land and sea boundaries.
"Continuation of liaison, communication and intelligence exchange with our Mainland counterparts secured the most updated situation for our assessment and appropriate deployment, and showed the effectiveness in dealing with IIs," he added.