XN000022-1973-10-17 — Page 35

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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