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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
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