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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 18 May 1988
Progress of the neighbourhood watch scheme
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6. MR. LIU asked (in Cantonese): With reference to the neighbourhood watch programme introduced by the police a few years ago in support of the Fight Crime Campaign, will Government inform this Council of its progress up to date and its assessment by the police?
SECRETARY FOR SECURITY: Sir, the neighbourhood watch scheme was first in- troduced as a pilot scheme in Sha Tin in 1984. In October 1985, the first phase of its extension on a territory-wide basis took place as a vital element of the Fight Crime Campaign's emphasis on home security to combat the problem of residential burglaries.
The purpose of phasing was to avoid putting an undue strain on police resources and to try to ensure that each phase, covering approximately 16 000 households, was implemented effectively. The scheme is now in its fifth phase. So far, 7 474 neighbourhood watch units have been formed, covering a total of 77 983 house- holds in 399 blocks. Those taking part represent around 10 per cent of all house- holds in Hong Kong. The sixth phase is scheduled to start this year on 1 July.
The police assessment is that the scheme has been well received by the public and public interest has been maintained. This is demonstrated by the fact that apart from the enthusiastic response from residential blocks, which were jointly identified by the police and the district fight crime committees to take part in the scheme, many requests have been received from other households for imple- mentation of the scheme in their blocks. There may, admittedly, have been cases where initial enthusiasm has worn off, but through the efforts of the police, a workable interest in such cases has been maintained.
Like many deterrent and crime prevention measures, it is often difficult to assess what has actually been achieved. For example, although the number of residential burglaries in Hong Kong dropped by 14.7 per cent in 1986 and 11 per cent in 1987, the figures for the first quarter of this year showed an increase of 12 per cent compared with the corresponding period in 1987. Nevertheless, the overall situation is better than it was two years ago; and there can be no doubt that the scheme has played an important and valuable part in developing people's awareness of the need to take more care of their homes, the need for community participation to prevent crime, and the need for neighbours to co-operate with each other. An added, and welcome, development arising from the scheme has been its success in improving relations and co-operation. between the police and the community.
MR. LIU (in Cantonese): Sir, in view of the fact that there has been an increase in the number of burglary cases, will the Government inform this Council whether there will be other measures to be taken apart from the neighbourhood watch scheme; and whether more publicity will be arranged for the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme so that its effect can be manifested to its full?