Overall law and order situation remains stable
Commissioner
Tsang Wai-hung briefs District Fight Crime Committee Chairmen at Police
Headquarters on the mid-year review
Speaking at a press conference on August 3 to review the crime situation in the territory between January and June this year, Mr Lo said that during this period, a total of 37 443 cases of crime were recorded, representing a drop of 0.8 per cent compared with 37 726 cases in the first half of 2010.
A total of 6 437 violent crime cases were recorded in the same period, a drop of 6.4 per cent compared with the corresponding period last year.
Noting that most categories of crimes recorded a fall, Mr Lo said the crimes on the rise included deception (up 17.2 per cent), triad-related offences (up 9.8 per cent), robbery (up 10.6 per cent), and quick cash crimes (up 2.4 per cent).
Deception Cases
A total of 2 871 cases of deception were registered, an increase of 422 cases or 17.2 per cent. Significant increases were recorded in telephone deception and online business fraud.
Eight hundreds and five reports of telephone deception were received, representing an increase of 166 cases or 26 per cent, but marking a significant drop of 41.7 per cent over the 1 380 cases reported in the second half of 2010.
"The drop in these cases was a result of the extensive publicity in the modus operandi of 'Guess who I am' in late 2010 and the neutralization of a related deception gang in Shaoguan, Guangdong, by the Mainland police authorities in early 2011.
"Moreover, a focus group has been set up to coordinate investigation of telephone deception. Between January and July 2011, Police arrested 14 people, including 10 Mainlanders and three Taiwanese, who were believed to have involved in 13 telephone deception cases," Mr Lo said.
In relation to online business fraud, 391 cases were reported in the first half of 2011, representing an increase of 98 cases or 33.4 per cent compared with the same period last year. Of the cases, 278 cases were related to offences arising from online auction or shopping.
Mr Lo said Police made a number of arrests between January 2010 and July 2011, with 52 suspects nabbed and 228 cases detected.
"Police have also set up a focus group in investigation of deception cases related to online auction in order to combat the crime in an effective and professional manner.
"In addition, we have established a liaison network with the Hongkong Post and major couriers for effectively tracing and intercepting goods to minimise victims' losses," he said.
Robbery and triad-related offences
As regards triad-related offences, 1 012 cases were recorded with 1 427 persons arrested, representing an increase of 90 cases and 183 arrests. The majority of the cases included wounding and serious assault, unlawful society offences and serious drug offences.
A total of 419 robbery cases were recorded, an increase of 40 cases or 10.6 per cent. There was no case involving genuine firearms. The increase was mainly attributable to the rising number of robberies committed inside lifts and on staircases of buildings and podiums.
"Police will continue to keep a close liaison with building management to provide professional advice on security. Patrol at black spots and anti-crime publicity will also be stepped up," Mr Lo said.
In the first half of 2011, 16 181 cases of quick cash crimes were recorded, an increase of 381 cases or 2.4 per cent compared with the same period last year. The increase was mainly attributable to the rise in miscellaneous thefts, including theft of metals.
A total of 9 783 cases of miscellaneous thefts recorded in the same period, an increase of 418 cases or 4.5 per cent as compared with the same period last year.
Mr Lo noted that crimes such as wounding and serious assault (down 6.6 per cent), serious drug offences (down 6.5 per cent), indecent assault (down 13 per cent), and shop theft (down 1.7 per cent) all recorded a decrease.
Serious drug cases decrease
A total of 1 059 serious drug cases
were recorded, representing a drop of 74 cases over the 1 133 cases in
the same period of 2010. Despite a decrease of 6.5 per cent in the
total number of cases, rises were seen in cases involving cocaine and
"Ice".In relation to indecent assault, 674 cases were recorded, a drop of 101 cases or 13 per cent. Decreases were recorded in cases where victims got to know the offenders through Internet activities and cases reported inside the MTR area.
Homicide, burglary and youth involvement in crime.
There were seven homicide cases in
the first half of 2011, down by 10 compared with the same period of
2010. All the cases were detected, most being related to domestic
violence or killing of family members or relatives.In the same period, 2 252 burglary cases were recorded, an increase of 15 cases or 0.7 per cent compared with the same period last year. Among the cases, 1 426 cases involved residential premises, representing a drop of 65 cases, and 826 cases involved non-residential premises, an increase of 80 cases.
A total of 3 967 young persons were arrested for crime, a drop of 293 persons or 6.9 per cent. Most of them were arrested for miscellaneous thefts or shop theft, wounding, serious assault, and serious drug offences.
In conclusion, Mr Lo said Police would continue monitoring all crime trends closely and pay particular attention to the crimes on the rise.
"To protect young people from crimes or being exploited for criminal activities during the summer holiday, Police have formulated publicity plans and enforcement actions to combat employment fraud, and drug and sexual offences involving teenagers."
"Police also jointly conducted a tripartite anti-crime operation, Operation Thunderbolt 2011,with the Guangdong and Macau police authorities between July 1 and 31, resulting in the arrest of 1 081 people," he added.
Police strive to enhance road safety
Police will continue to enhance road safety with enforcement, education and publicity, said Director of Operations Hung Hak-wai at the same press conference.
He pointed out that the number of drink driving-related traffic accidents in the first six months of this year had decreased to 101 cases, compared with 103 cases in the same period last year.
In the same period, a total of 506 persons were arrested for drink driving, a small increase compared with the 492 persons arrested in the same period last year.
Mr Hung stressed that the Random Breathing Test had achieved a significant deterrent effect and Police action would continue.
In addition, the Road Traffic (Amendment) Ordinance 2010, which came into effect on December 17 last year, had introduced measures to further deter drink driving offences and other inappropriate driving behaviour.
Regarding drug driving incidents, 31 cases were recorded, a decrease of 12 cases, compared with 43 cases in the same period in 2010. The commonly abused drug was ketamine.
"To implement stringent anti-drug driving measures, the Road Traffic Amendment Bill 2011 was gazetted on May 13 this year and presented to Legislative Council on May 25. The Bills Committee has also commenced scrutiny of the bill," said Mr Hung, adding that Police would continue monitoring drug driving closely.
Traffic accidents decrease
Reviewing the general road safety in Hong Kong, Mr Hung said the number of traffic accidents in the first six months of 2011 was 7 164, representing a decrease of 80 compared with the same period last year. The number of fatal traffic accidents, however, increased by two to 56 this year from 54 in the same period last year.
"As regards casualties involving road users, it is worth noting that casualties involving cyclists recorded an increase of 11 percent from 852 in the same period last year to 946 this year," Mr Hung said.
Overall traffic enforcement actions totalled 631 679 in the first half of 2011, representing an increase of three per cent compared with the 613 015 in the same period last year.
Mr Hung said a series of operations were conducted in the first half of 2011, targeting drink driving, professional drivers and pedestrians. On the publicity side, pedestrian safety, cycling safety, anti-drug driving and anti-drink driving are the themes for the road safety campaigns for 2011/12.
"We will continue seeking the support of all road users in our efforts to enhance road safety," he added.
Issue of illegal immigrants
Turning to the issue of illegal immigrants, Mr Hung said the number of Mainland illegal immigrants (MIIs) showed a downward trend in the first six months of 2011 and 796 MIIs were arrested, representing a decrease of 348 over the 1 144 in the same period last year.
He said 74 MIIs were arrested for criminal offences from January to June this year, an increase of one over 73 in the same period last year. The main offences committed by MIIs were theft, forgery and immigration offences. In addition, 111 female MIIs were arrested for prostitution, a decrease of 92 over the 203 arrested in the same period last year.
In the first six months of this year, 115 non-ethnic Chinese illegal immigrants (NEC IIs) were arrested, a decrease of 64 over the 179 arrested in the same period last year.
Two NEC IIs were arrested for committing crimes, a decrease of six over the eight in the same period last year. The offences they committed were using ID cards belonging to other persons and breach of a deportation order.
Regarding the crimes committed by Mainland visitors (MVs), Mr Hung said from January to June in 2011, there were 12.59 million MVs, of whom 580 were arrested for committing criminal offences, an increase of seven compared with the 573 in the same period last year. The main offences committed by the MVs were theft, forgery, serious assault and serious immigration offences.
Between January and June this year, 1 754 MVs were arrested for involvement in prostitution, representing a 3.3 per cent increase compared with the 1 698 in the same period last year.
In the past six months, the Force took a series of actions with other government departments and arrested 608 illegal Mainland workers. The figure represented a decrease of 1.1 per cent compared with the 615 in the same period last year.
Co-operation with Mainland
Mr Hung said: "Police will maintain a close liaison and intelligence exchange with our Mainland counterparts to secure the most updated information for our deployment in order to combat IIs effectively.
"We will also adopt a three-level approach, including effective screening, at all immigration control points to enhance local enforcement with other law enforcement agencies to tackle the problem of Mainland visitors committing crime."
Director
of
Crime
and Security Lo Wai-chung and Director of Operations Hung
Hak-wai at the press conference