Police-1957-1958 — Page 9

PART I

GENERAL REPORT AND SURVEY OF THE YEAR

WITHIN the Colony of Hong Kong there are 391 square miles of land and 700 square miles of territorial waters. Some twelve square miles of land are developed for residential, industrial or commercial purposes, mainly in the twin cities of Victoria and Kowloon, each of which has a population of about 1,000,000 people. About fifty square miles are cultivated and the remainder, which includes a large part of the main- land and nearly 200 islands is predominantly hillside or swamp. The balance of the population, perhaps 500,000, lives either in the rural areas or as 'boat people' in homes afloat.

2. In the urban areas life is bustling and cosmopolitan, visiting and local forces find recreation, tourists outstanding facilities for shopping and a substantial business and manufacturing community enjoys the benefits of free enterprise in a free port. For the majority of the vastly swollen population, however, life is a hard struggle for survival often in conditions of extraordinary hardship, but they find wide protection and freedom of expression under the law and few who enter ever wish to leave. These hard pressed people are by nature admirable citizens, patient, energetic and law abiding; were it not so law and order might well have broken down, instead of being on a level which compares favourably with any other major city in the world.

3. The efforts of the police during the year were rewarded by a considerable reduction in serious crime, the total number of cases reported being 15,705 as compared with 19,923 for the previous year. In all but three categories of serious crime there have been decreases, and under several heads the figures are the lowest in post-war years. This reduction is particularly noteworthy in view of the steady increase of population and at a time when the general trend, in urban areas throughout the world, is towards a higher crime rate. It is also note- worthy that the figures for juvenile delinquency, never high, have decreased substantially.

4. An important factor contributing to this reduction has been the preventive action taken against criminal secret societies in connexion with which the powers provided by the Emergency (Detention Orders)

1