sory, members of the rank and file are encouraged to attend the classes organized. No allowance is paid other than a bonus of $100 on passing the Stage V, or highest examination. During the year a total of 313 officers qualified for this bonus, bringing the total number of officers who hold the Stage V Certificate up to 755. The Force has the services of sixteen teachers of English provided by the Director of Education and classes are conducted regularly throughout the Colony.
PART IV
CRIME AND THE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
DEPARTMENT
GENERAL
84. During the year the total number of reports dealt with by the police was 407,395, an increase of 3,968 over the previous year. A breakdown of these reports and a comparison with the two previous years is given below:
Offence
1956/57
1957/58
1958/59
Serious Crime
19,923
15,705
14,990
Deportation Offences
1,356
1,155
795
Membership of Unlawful Societies. Miscellaneous Offences
752
1,796
3,480
191,756
231,696
214,299
Reports disclosing no offence
155,404
153,075 173,831
369,191 403,427 407,395
85. The general reduction in serious crime of 4.5% with an improved detection rate of 68% indicated some measure of success in a year in which the emphasis has been on crime prevention. The increased number of reports disclosing no offence may be attributed to an increasing confidence of the public in the Force, also indicated by members of the public seeking advice and assistance at stations. Gang fights and organized violence by triad elements, which plagued the Colony in post-war years, were almost non-existent.
86. The following pages contain comments on specific types of crime and on the work of the Criminal Investigation Department, while the full statistics of both serious crime and miscellaneous offences are detailed in Appendices to this report.
17
TOTAL SERIOUS CRIMES (EXCLUDING BREACH OF DEPORTATION
AND MEMBERSHIP OF UNLAWFUL SOCIETY)