ENG-2000 — Page 371

PUBLIC ORDER

crowd management during festive occasions, public gatherings, processions and demonstrations.

A joint exercise to tackle cross-boundary illegal activities was held in April involving various divisions of the Police Force and the Guangdong Border Defence Bureau. This experience helped enhance cross-boundary liaison and communication between the force and Mainland authorities.

Crime

Reported crimes in 2000 totalled 77 245, an increase of 0.6 per cent when compared with 76 771 crimes recorded in 1999. The overall crime rate stood at 1 137 cases per 100 000 population, a decrease of 0.5 per cent when compared with 1 142 cases in 1999. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region remained one of the most secure and stable cities in the world.

Violent crimes, including murder, wounding, serious assault, rape, indecent assault, kidnapping, blackmailing, criminal intimidation, robbery and arson, decreased to 14 812 cases. This represented a decrease of 5.7 per cent when compared with 15 705 cases in 1999. Robbery, wounding and serious assault accounted for 69.8 per cent of the total number of violent crimes in 2000.

There were 84 robberies involving the use of firearms both genuine and pistol- like objects - an increase of 20 per cent when compared with 70 cases in 1999.

Regarding non-violent crimes, burglary (excluding aggravated burglary) decreased slightly from 9 125 cases in 1999 to 8 964 cases in 2000, a drop of 1.8 per cent. Theft, however, increased slightly from 29 046 cases in 1999 to 30 570 cases in 2000, an increase of 5.2 per cent. Deception cases rose from 3 423 to 3 986 over the same period, representing an increase of 16.4 per cent. Serious narcotics offences rose from 2 246 in 1999 to 2 312 in 2000, a modest increase of 2.9 per cent.

In all, 33 668 crimes, or 43.6 per cent of the total, were detected, an increase of 1.1 per cent when compared with the detection rate in 1999. The number of persons arrested for various criminal offences in 2000 was 40 930. Of those arrested, 6 229 were juvenile offenders (aged between seven and 15 years) and 6 465 were young persons (aged between 16 and 20 years).

Violent Crime (firearms only)

While the total number of robberies decreased in 2000 when compared with 1999, the use of genuine firearms in robberies increased from five cases to eight. Firearms seizures also increased from 22 in 1999 to 29 in 2000, which was attributable to a number of successful police proactive operations and close co-operation between the Police Force and Mainland counterparts.

Vehicle Theft

Vehicle theft rose moderately. In 2000, 2 804 motor vehicles were reported missing, a rise of 8.9 per cent when compared with 1999. The recovery rate was 54.3 per cent. While the number of luxury vehicles stolen remained more or less the same as in 1999, the number of container tractors stolen rose by 108 per cent. The number of stolen private cars also registered an increase of 3.5 per cent. Of these, the theft of jeeps and high performance vehicles increased significantly by 64.3 per cent and 33.8 per cent, respectively. The increase in the number of stolen vehicles is believed to be

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