PUBLIC ORDER
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community awareness of the need to prevent crime and community participation in combating crime.
In January, in the face of a rising trend in the crime rate, the Fight Crime Committee, in conjunction with district committees, launched a special publicity drive. A wide variety of activities were organised in all 19 districts during the one-month campaign period. The culmination of the drive was a televised variety show.
Members of all 19 District Fight Crime Committees participated in a gathering in October which provided an opportunity to reinforce the link between the central and district committees and to exchange views on crime-related matters.
Police Force
For the Royal Hong Kong Police Force, 1991 was a year of very active service. The year was characterised by an increase in violent crime and an upsurge in large-scale smuggling of stolen vehicles and unmanifested cargoes. The amounts of money involved in such crimes were significant.
The public was particularly concerned about the occurrence of a number of serious. organised crimes, featuring the use by criminals of high-powered firearms. With the stepping up of police vigilance and enforcement actions, the situation was kept under control.
The problem of vehicle theft for smuggling to the mainland continued to plague the -territory in the early part of the year. The problem was as much a concern to Hong Kong as it was to China. In February, under the Governor's directive, an Anti-smuggling Task Force was formed to tackle the problem. The efforts of the task force subdued these once rampant activities. Subsequent meetings between the Commissioner of Police and Chinese officials resulted in the return of a number of stolen vehicles.
The force continued to experience stress in its manpower. The resumption from the Army of responsibility in patrolling part of the land border between Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok, and continued commitments at Vietnamese detention centres further strained the force's resources. The situation improved slightly when management of the High Island Detention Centre was handed over to the Correctional Services Department.
During the year, the force continued with its development programmes to meet future needs. The acquisition of a number of most advanced computer systems, including an enhanced computer-assisted command and control system, a computer-assisted fingerprint identification system and a system to faciliate the fast and easy retrieval of criminal intelligence data, ensured that the force was among the most efficient in crime-fighting capabilities.
Planning and development in respect of the force's structure, office accommodation, equipment and manpower continued in order to cope with new demands caused by population growth and the development of new towns and the new airport.
Crime
There were 88 659 crimes reported to the police in 1991, a marginal increase of 0.4 per cent compared with 88 300 recorded in 1990. The total number of crimes per population of 100 000 was 1 541, a drop of 0.5 per cent over 1990.
Violent crime, a category which includes murder, wounding, serious assault, rape, indecent assault, kidnap, blackmail, criminal intimidation and robbery, continued to rise