Public Order ❘ 299
During the year, the number of violent crimes decreased to 14 429, a drop of 3.4 per cent compared with 14 934 in 2007. Criminal intimidation and wounding and serious assaults accounted for 68 per cent of total violent crimes in 2008. There was a notable increase in the relatively more serious violent crimes such as homicide.
In all, there were 1 100 robberies in 2008, a drop of 9.5 per cent compared with 1216 in 2007. There were no robberies with genuine firearms in 2008. No such case was recorded in 2007 either. There were 10 bank robberies, two more than in 2007. Most of these crimes were committed by lone robbers.
Regarding non-violent crimes, burglary increased from 4 512 in 2007 to 4 774 in 2008, a rise of 5.8 per cent, while thefts fell from 36 762 in 2007 to 35 230 in 2008, down 4.2 per cent.
Of the reported crimes in 2008, 45.6 per cent (or 35 774 crimes) were detected, resulting in the arrest of 41 220 people for various offences. Of this number, 4 178 were juveniles aged between 10 and 15 and 4 830 were young people aged between 16 and 20. Most of them were arrested for shop thefts, miscellaneous thefts, wounding and serious assaults, and serious narcotics offences.
There were no crimes involving the use of firearms in 2008. During the year, seven firearms were seized, compared with six in 2007.
There was a significant reduction in pickpocketing in 2008. A total of 940 cases were reported in 2008 compared to 1 198 in 2007, a fall of 21.5 per cent. The decrease was largely due to stringent enforcement action against pickpocket syndicates and effective crime prevention strategies. Where appropriate, and subject to advice from the Department of Justice, the Police would apply for enhanced sentences against habitual offenders.
Vehicle thefts remained stable. A total of 1 360 vehicles were reported missing in 2008 compared with 1 398 in 2007. In 2008, the Police Force conducted 27 large-scale anti-car theft operations. A total of 42 people were arrested and 48 vehicles were recovered.
The number of triad-related crimes showed a slight increase. In 2008, there were 2 376 triad-related crimes compared with 2 259 in 2007. Triad-related crimes accounted for 3 per cent of all reported crimes during the year. To tackle triad activities, a large-scale tripartite anti-triad operation involving the police forces of Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macao was mounted in June and July 2008 with a total of 1 664 people arrested in Hong Kong for various crimes.
Domestic Violence
In accordance with the Police Force's commitment to responding to all reports of domestic violence promptly and professionally, combating domestic violence continued to be one of the Commissioner of Police's 'Operational Priorities' in 2008.
The Police received 7 278 reports of domestic violence during the year, 2 341 of which were crime-related and 4 937 were miscellaneous cases, representing a drop of 3.1 per cent compared with 2007.