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The overall law and order situation in Hong Kong remained stable in 2008 with a drop of 2.9 per cent in the overall crime, according to the Commissioner of Police, Mr Tang King-shing.
Speaking at a press conference today (January 21) to review the crime situation in Hong Kong last year, Mr Tang said, "During the period, a total of 78,469 cases of crime were recorded, representing a drop of 2.9 per cent when compared with 80,796 cases in 2007."
Mr Tang said the detection rate was 45.6 per cent, the same as in 2007.
There were a total of 14,429 cases of violent crime recorded last year, a drop of 3.4 per cent when compared with 14,934 cases in 2007.
Noting that the majority of crimes recorded a fall, Mr Tang said the crimes on the rise included shop theft (up 7.5 per cent), burglary (up 5.8 per cent), serious narcotics offences (up 7.1 per cent), and triad-related crimes (up 5.2 per cent).
"During the year, there were a total of 2,966 serious narcotics offences, of which, 2,531 cases involved psychotropic drugs, making up 85.4 per cent of the overall serious narcotics offences. When compared with 2007, these types of cases noted an increase of 394 cases, a rise of 18.4 per cent, which is the major factor attributed to the increase of the overall serious narcotics offences," Mr Tang said.
¡°Among the psychotropic drug cases, those involving ketamine recorded the largest increase, from 975 cases in 2007 to 1,555 cases in 2008, a rise of 580 cases or 59.5 per cent.¡±
"A total of 3,718 persons were arrested for serious narcotics offences, with 3,235 persons arrested for cases involving psychotropic drugs, making up 87 per cent of the overall number of persons arrested for serious narcotics offences," he said.
"Among those arrested, 1,153 were youths, accounting for 31 per cent of the total number of arrested persons, a rise of 231 persons or 25.1 per cent when compared with 922 persons in 2007."
" The Force have implemented comprehensive strategies for combating drug trafficking activities. We will continue to work closely with anti-drug agencies in the mainland and overseas to tackle transnational drug traffickers and intercept drugs at their origins, so as to widen the anti-drug protective shield," he said.
¡°We will also strengthen interception at border-crossing points. In 2008, seventy Hong Kong people were arrested for cross-boundary drug trafficking with a total of 35 kilogrames of various drugs seized.¡±
¡°In appropriate cases, we will apply to the Court for enhanced sentences against drug traffickers who smuggle drugs into the territory or make use of young people to traffic in drugs for them.¡±
Mr Tang said that the 2,376 cases of triad-related crimes were recorded in 2008, representing a rise of 117cases, an increase of 5.2 per cent when compared with 2007.
He pointed out that triad-related crimes made up 3 per cent of the overall crime figure, more or less the same as the average over the past 10 years.
In addressing the concern about an increase of triad-related crimes, the Commissioner said that combating triad activities continued to be one of the operational priorities and triad influence on youth was of particular concern.
¡°We would strengthen our criminal intelligence network, take prompt and professional action in response to intelligence and reports of triad-related activity and crime, target triad personalities and activities, mount strategic undercover operations and interdict triad sources of income in order to demobilise their activities.¡±
Mr Tang also pointed out that other crimes such as miscellaneous theft (down 6.6 per cent), theft from vehicle (down 14.3 per cent), pickpocketing (down 21.5 per cent) and wounding/serious assault (down 2.4 per cent) all recorded a substantial fall.
The Commissioner also took the opportunity to dwell on cases of homicide, domestic violence and juvenile crime. There were a total of 36 homicides reported in 2008, a two-fold increase of 18 cases when compared with 2007. Thirty-two cases were detected, representing a detection rate of 88.9 per cent.
¡°Notwithstanding the two-fold increase in homicide cases, the number of cases recorded in 2007 is in fact the lowest in the last 30 years. In the past decade, 49 cases were recorded on average every year. This year the figure stands at 36 is in fact lower than the average figure for the past decade,¡± Mr Tang said.
"Homicide is a serious offence and it is always one of our greatest concerns. To combat offences of this type, the Police has tried to achieve the deterrent effect by means of multi-directional investigating techniques backed up by unrelenting effort. Against such a background, the Police has all along invested a considerable amount of resources to expedite detection," he said.
Mr Tang said that the overall number of domestic violence cases recorded in 2008 was 7,278, a decrease of 231 cases when compared with 7,509 cases of the previous year. Among them, 2,341 cases were criminal domestic violence cases, a drop of 164 cases when compared with 2007. For non-criminal cases, 4,937 cases were noted, a decrease of 67 cases when compared with 2007.
Turning to juvenile crime, Mr Tang said that there were 4,178 juveniles (aged 10 to 15) and 4,830 young persons (aged 16 to 20) arrested for crimes in 2008. However, it was worth noting that the total number of juveniles and young persons arrested for crimes is 9008, a drop of 659 (6.8 per cent) when compared with the previous year.
"The crimes committed by them were predominantly miscellaneous theft, shop theft, woundings, assaults and serious narcotics offences," he said.
Introducing the operational priorities for this year, Mr Tang said in addition to the seven priorities adopted in 2008, the Commissioner's Operational Priorities for 2009 also included an eighth priority to highlight the importance of effective policing of the 2009 East Asian Games.
"The Police will ensure appropriate security measures are in place to enable the Games to be held proficiently in a safe and secure environment for all participants," he said.
"We will facilitate the effective deployment of resources to manage the Games during the peiod of the event whilst continuing to provide day-to-day police service to the public," he added.
In addressing the concern that whether the Financial Tsunami had any bearing on the overall crime rate, Mr Tang said that the Financial Tsunami was, after all, at its early stage and the trends had yet to be ascertained.
¡°We would closely monitor the effect of the Financial Tsunami might have on the local law and order situation and would promptly deploy police resources to deal with specific problems,¡± he added.
Also attending the press conference to review the law and order situation in 2008 were the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Mr Yam Tat-wing, and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Management), Mr Tsang Wai-hung.
Police Report No. 11
Ends/Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Issued at HKT 19:42
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