CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DEPARTMENT
Hong Kong's crime statistics, crime trends and the action taken to contain and reduce crime, cannot be viewed in isolation. They have to be studied against the backdrop of Hong Kong's history, its topography, its buildings and its population density, which in certain areas is as high as anywhere else in the world. Multi-storey buildings of 20-30 floors are common-place, with the result that some street blocks in urban areas may house as many people as a fair size town elsewhere. Even post-war buildings are being demolished as out-of-date, and a mass transit railway is being built.
Most of the population are Chinese; although these are mainly Cantonese, there are many of different origin, each with their own dialect and culture. Add to them a small but cosmopolitan group of other Asians, Europeans, Americans and Australians and one gets a fair cross-section of people and languages. Another significant feature is that more than 40 per cent of the entire population of about 4.5 million are young persons below the age of 20.
It is in the context of a young population in a densely packed urban area where economic activity is intense that
Hong Kong's crime picture should be viewed. It is stressed that the statistics and comments which follow relate only to crime which has actually been reported; there are no reliable figures on the likely level of unreported crime. From these, it would appear Hong Kong's people are basically industrious and law-abiding.
There was a virtual doubling in recorded crime between 1972 and 1974, but this may have been partly due to better police/public relations, and also to improved report- ing procedures. The public certainly appeared to be less reluctant to make reports. Nevertheless, there was probably also a substantial real increase in crime during the same period. Since that time however, it is fair to claim that crime has been held in check, although there are certainly no grounds of complacency.
A levelling off
The past year again reflected a similar pattern. Improved community relations, better intelligence and the continued development of new strategies all contributed to a level- ling off in the crime graph; and this notwithstanding
GRAND TOTAL
總計
THOUSANDS
千位
OVERALL DETECTION RATE 總破案率
PERCENTAGE
百份拿
60
100%-
90
52,812
50
51,610
80
40
30
20
10
0
1976
1977
20
70
60
57%
53.1%
50
40
30
20
10
1977
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