AIR MAIL
CONFIDENTIAL
Our ref: CR 3285/57 III
Your ref: HKK 14/17
HKCK 140
Enter See draft
PA
COLONIAL. SECRETARIAT,
NG KONG.
ephy
22nd March 1973.
Dear Andrew,
10
Sir Hugh Norman-Walker wrote to you on the 10th January about crime here generally, and mandatory minimum sentences in particular.
From his letter and the various enclosures sent with it, and from other papers and correspondence, you will know our problem - and be aware of the degree of public alarm there has been about our increase in violent crime.
During recent months the position has been at least contained, in that there is no longer an increase (and even seems to be a slight fall) in the incidence of crimes of violence. But it is still too soon to start drawing any comfort from the figures. Moreover although people are now less jittery, crime continues to excite a greater interest in the press and amongst the public at large than any other single topic apart perhaps from the "frenzy" of the stock exchange.
Further measures are therefore being planned. These are being brought together just after the middle of this year in a large-scale campaign designed to involve the whole community in combatting crime, following our success in involving it in cleaning up Hong Kong.
A successful recruitment campaign has already added very substantially to the strength of the Auxiliary Police. The new recruits should be trained by the time the campaign starts, enabling us to deploy
A.C. Stuart, Esq.,
Hong Kong & Indian Ocean Department,
Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
LONDON, S.W.1.
CONFIDENTIAL
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