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Wednesday, October 17, 1973
SOUND START IN FIGHT AGAINST CRIME
Hong Kong is getting to grips with the crime problem through
concerted action by the government and the public on a very wide front
during the past year, the Governor, Sir Murray MacLehose, said today.
Addressing the new Legislative Council session, Sir Murray said that
the methods chosen by the government in ite fight against crime had secured
the public's cooperation and involvement on a scale and in a way that
was quite new.
"Many people", he said, "from all levels of society, have come
forward to help, to organise and to give a lead in making their neighbourhood
safer."
"Crime was once regarded as a problem for the police alone. It is
now accepted as one for the community. There is a new and healthier spirit,
new determination, new hope," he added.
Outlining the past year's action against crime, the Governor said that
it had fallen under three main headings to increase the numbers and
offectiveness of police on the street; to change things done by the police
to make them more helpful to the public; and to change things done by the
public to make them more helpful to the police and to themselves.
A working group, appointed to study the root causes of crime, had
produced an "illuminating interim report" which suggested that certain aspects
of our social programmes and certain defects in them had more immediate relevance
for the combatting of crime than others.
These