XN000022-1973-02-13 — Page 2

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Tuesday, February 13, 1973

GOVERNMENT IS DETERMINED TO CURB CRIME

Governor Calls For Everyone's Full Co-operation

The Governor, Sir Murray MacLehose, today reasserted the Government's

determination to tackle the problem of prevailing crime in Hong Kong.

Speaking at a luncheon meeting of the Rotary Club of Hong Kong in

the Mandarin Hotel, he also reiterated that members of the public must, at

the same time, play their part by assisting the police.

Sir Murray stressed that the onus of crime prevention rested upon

the Government.

"It is a prime responsibility of this, and any administration,

to ensure the safety of its population."

He said some crime prevention measures had already been implemented

while others were now being formulated. "I know the Judiciary stands ready

to play its constitutional part."

The Governor pointed out that violent crime had grown rather later

in Hong Kong than in most other great cities of the world.

But in the last four years, it had grown much faster, and its effect

on the dense population had been much more disturbing.

"Some people tell me that an increase in crime is something that must

be accepted as a fact of life in this part of the 20th Century," Sir Murray said.

"This I utterly reject."

"It may be so elsewhere, but it need not be so and will not be so in

Hong Kong," he added.

The police force, he said, was somewhat under strength.

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