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The crime rate in Wong Tai Sin District had remained low in recent years and most offences are minor ones such as shop thefts, miscellaneous thefts, criminal damage and burglary, the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose SK Lee, said at the Wong Tai Sin District Fight Crime Committee meeting this afternoon (March 10).
Mr Lee thanked the committee members for their concern about law and order in the district. He spoke highly of their efforts and co-operation with government departments and local organisations in preventing and fighting crime.
Regarding the committee's grave concerns about the frequency of burglary cases in public housing estates in 2004, Mr Lee said the Wong Tai Sin Police had teamed up with the Housing Department, property management companies, security companies and security guards to launch the "Project Plan on Anti-Burglary in Public Housing Estates".
The project served to increase anti-burglary awareness among local residents and foster a closer partnership between the Police and the community through an intelligence-led strategy. As a result, burglary cases had been effectively reduced in the district.
With enhanced co-operation from the community, and vigorous police action against crimes involving illegal immigrants and two-way permit holders, major crimes in the district, such as robbery and burglary, dropped noticeably last year compared with 2004.
Mr Lee said the slight increase in overall crime figures in the past three years could be attributed to a series of strategic measures adopted by the Police, including stepped-up enforcement operations, improvement in the crime reporting mechanism and heightened vigilance of frontline officers.
Triad-related crime was one of the crimes being combated effectively. The Police in close co-operation with schools had apprehended a number of suspected triad-related students and triad members. It was believed that these operations had greatly diluted triad infiltration in schools in the district.
After the meeting, Mr Lee, joined by other committee members, visited the Lung Cheung Mall and listened to shop tenants about their concern on law and order in the area. The group then proceeded to Kai Sin House to see the anti-burglary measures implemented there. Kai Sin House in Upper Wong Tai Sin Estate is one of the public housing estates participating in the Project Plan on Anti-Burglary.
Ends/Friday, March 10, 2006
Issued at HKT 17:26
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