Speaking at a press conference on July 30 to review the crime situation in the territory between January and June this year, Mr Lee said, "During the period, a total of 38,777 cases were recorded, representing a drop of 3.9 per cent over the 40,357 cases in the first half of last year.

A total of 7,095 cases of violent crime were recorded in the last six months, a 3.7 per cent decrease compared with the 7,364 cases in the corresponding period last year.

Based on the number of cases, Mr Lee pointed out that the top four categories of violent crimes were serious assault (2,938 cases), followed by criminal intimidation (951 cases), wounding (891 cases) and indecent assault (683 cases).

"The total number of serious assault and wounding cases in the first six months this year was 3,829, down 2.5 per cent compared with the same period last year," said Mr Lee, adding that one of the main reasons for the reduction was a decrease of cases related to domestic violence with criminal elements.

A majority of assault and wounding cases were caused by various kinds of disputes. Domestic violence cases accounted for 18 per cent, while those related to triad societies accounted for nearly eight per cent.

Regarding criminal intimidation cases, a total of 951 cases were recorded in the first six months of this year, a decrease of 40 cases (down 4 per cent) compared with the corresponding period last year. A majority of these cases were induced by disputes of different sorts.

"Among disputes of all sorts, money disputes accounted for nearly 20 per cent, love disputes about 20 per cent, disputes involving domestic violence 27 per cent, debt disputes 20 per cent and triad related disputes about three per cent," he added.

Mr Lee said that apart from the top four categories of violent crimes, there was a significant increase in homicide cases when a total of 21 cases were recorded in the first six months of this year, an increase of 13 cases compared with the corresponding period of the previous year.

He said the Force attached great importance to homicide cases. Among the 21 cases, 18 cases were detected, representing a detection rate of 85.7 per cent.

Mr Lee also pointed out that the number of robbery cases dropped by 108 (down 16 per cent) to 550 cases in the first six months. There was no robbery with genuine firearms.

During the first half of this year, a total of 1,215 cases related to triad offences were recorded, a rise of 17 per cent. Triad society cases accounted for 3.1 per cent of the overall crime rate, a downward trend since the climax of 3.9 per cent in 1997. Over the past six months, the Force had mounted a number of intelligence-led and undercover operations against triad personalities and activities.

Regarding the fight against trafficking in and abuse of dangerous drugs, Mr Lee said over the past six months, a total of 1,494 serious narcotics cases were detected and 1,850 persons were arrested for serious narcotics offences, an increase of six and five per cent respectively compared with the same period last year.

"Cases involving psychotropic drugs increased by 21 per cent, with Ketamine and Cocaine having gone up by 75 per cent and 21 per cent respectively," he said.

In respect of youth drug abuse, a total of 557 youth and juvenile offenders were arrested for serious narcotics offences in the first six months this year, a rise of 38 per cent of the people arrested in the same period last year. Among the youth and juvenile offenders, over 90 per cent were involved in psychotropic drugs.

In the first half of this year, the number of overall domestic violence reports the Police had recorded was 3,557 cases, a drop of 145 cases (down 3.9 per cent) compared with 3,702 cases in the same period last year. Of the 3,557 reports, 1,147 cases involved criminal elements while 2,410 reports were non-crime cases.

"The law and order situation in the first six months was quite stable and we anticipate that the situation for the second half of this year would be more or less the same. Our strategies in tackling criminal offences will remain unchanged," Mr Lee concluded.

Enormous challenge to Force

Also speaking at the news conference, Director of Operations Koo Sii-hong said the security of the Olympic Equestrian Events poses an enormous challenge to the Police and the Force has experiences, confidence, sufficient resources and expertise to tackle all challenges that may arise during the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian Events to ensure they are held smoothly, in a safe and secure environment for all participants.

Mr Koo said the Force had drawn up a detailed manpower plan. About 2,000 officers would be involved on an average day when no competitions are held. On a day when an event would take place in the morning and afternoon, up to 4,000 officers would be required for policing.

"A dedicated Equestrian Events Crime Team has also been formed to patrol around the venues and to handle all reports relating to the Events," Mr Koo added.

Mr Koo pointed out that comprehensive internal security and counter-terrorism capabilities were in place. The Force had also established mechanisms and contingency plans to deal with terrorist incidents. Regular exercises were conducted to test the effectiveness of the plans and to enhance the command, control, coordination and communications amongst different units.

"Though there is currently no specific intelligence to suggest that Hong Kong is likely to be a target for terrorism during the Equestrian Events, the Force has been maintaining a high degree of vigilance and operational readiness commensurate with the prevailing threat level," Mr Koo stressed.

"The Force closely monitors at all times the terrorist attack incidents or suspected cases that have occurred around the world," he added.

Turning to enhancement of road safety, Mr Koo said there were 7,187 traffic accidents in the first six months, a decrease of 235 cases (down 3.2 per cent) when compared with 7,422 cases in the same period last year.

Both the number of fatal traffic accidents and death caused by traffic accidents registered an increase of 4.1 per cent and 22.1 per cent respectively during the periods in comparison. The number of fatal traffic accidents increased by three from 73 in the same period last year to 76 this year while that of traffic fatalities also increased by 17 from 77 in the same period last year to 94 this year.

The overall traffic enforcement actions taken totalled 610,108 in the first half of this year, representing a decrease of 1.5 per cent when compared with 619,088 in the same period last year. Enforcement actions were mainly targetted at offences that had caused or would possibly cause traffic accidents.

Mr Koo said the effort in combatting Mainland illegal immigrants (IIs) for the first six months of 2008 had been good and a total of 1,218 IIs were arrested, representing a decrease of 325 IIs over 1,543 IIs in the same period last year.

He said that a total of 110 Mainland IIs were arrested for criminal offences from January to June this year, a decrease of 82 over 192 in the same period last year. The main offences committed by them were theft, forgery and immigration offences. In addition, 160 female IIs were arrested for prostitution, a decrease of 56 over 216 arrested for prostitution-related offences in the same period last year.

He explained that the decrease in the number of IIs arrested was attributed to the effective enforcement action taken by the Mainland law enforcement authorities and the Force both at the sea and land boundaries.

In the first six months this year, a total of 345 Vietnamese illegal immigrants (VIIs) were arrested, an increase of 52 over 293 VIIs arrested in the same period last year. 170 of them were arrested for committing crimes, an increase of 16 over 154 in the same period last year. The main offences committed by them were forgery, possession of offensive weapon and immigration offences.

Regarding the crimes committed by Mainland visitors (MVs), Mr Koo said from January to June this year, there were 7.77 million MV arrivals, of whom 705 were arrested for committing criminal offences, an increase of 89 when compared with 616 in the same period last year. The main offences committed by the MVs were theft, forgery and serious immigration offences.

Between January and June this year, 1,556 MVs were arrested for involvement in prostitution, representing a 1.3 per cent decrease when compared with 1,576 in the same period last year.

The decline was mainly due to the strengthened cooperation between the Force and the Mainland authorities, imposing a stringent application process for Two-way Permits, rejecting entry of suspicious persons and conducting more raids.

For the past six months, the Force has taken a series of actions with other departments and arrested 933 illegal Mainland workers, which represented a decrease of 21 per cent with 1,185 in the same period last year.

Mr Lee and Mr Koo at the mid-year review news conference