ENG-2003 — Page 378

PUBLIC ORDER

318

Of the 88 377 crimes in 2003, 39.2 per cent or 34 672 crimes were detected, with 42 051 people arrested for various criminal offences. Of those arrested, 5 156 were juveniles (aged below 16) and 6 018 were young persons (aged 16 to 20). Most of the juveniles and young persons were arrested for shop theft, miscellaneous theft, wounding, serious assault and robbery. Drug-related offences were also prevalent among the crimes committed by young offenders.

Violent Crime Involving Firearms

In 2003, there were four cases involving the use of firearms compared with eight in 2002. There were 28 firearm seizures, compared with 23 in the previous year. The majority of the seizures were the direct result of intelligence-based operations conducted by the Police Force. Increased cooperation between the force and other law enforcement agencies, especially those on the Mainland, continued to yield an effective exchange of information on the activities of cross-boundary criminal syndicates, which is important in combating crimes involving firearms.

Vehicle Crime

In 2003, a total of 2 301 vehicles were reported missing. This represented a decrease of 4.6 per cent compared with 2 412 vehicles in 2002. The number of luxury vehicles and high-performance vehicles reported missing continued to decline. Rigorous local enforcement action, enhanced boundary control, intelligence sharing with overseas and neighbouring jurisdictions and the Mainland authorities' ban on right-hand drive vehicles continued to contribute towards the downward trend in vehicle theft.

Organised Crime and Triads

The situation with regard to organised crime and triads remained stable as in previous years. There were 2 471 triad-related cases in 2003, accounting for only 2.8 per cent of the 88 377 total reported crimes. Persistent and proactive enforcement by the Police Force has resulted in a steady decline in the number of triad-related crimes reported over the last few years.

The Organised and Serious Crimes Ordinance, enacted in 1994, has given law enforcement agencies enhanced powers against organised crime and syndicates. The ordinance includes provisions governing confiscation of crime proceeds and enhanced sentencing of criminals upon conviction. During the year, 21 persons were charged with offences under this legislation and confiscation orders issued by the courts resulted in the confiscation of $380,000. Restraining orders have frozen a total of $164.25 million pending court proceedings.

The Police Force has been proactive in maintaining closer ties with Mainland and overseas law enforcement agencies. The success of numerous high-profile operations such as Operation 'Twilight', which targeted many facets of organised crime and triad activities in Macau, Hong Kong and the Mainland, has highlighted the effectiveness of collaborative enforcement action in combating organised crime.

Witness Protection

The Witness Protection Programme is administered by the Police Witness Protection Unit. The unit provides a wide range of protective measures tailor-made to suit the needs of individual witnesses assessed as being exposed to a genuine threat of serious physical injury or death. These include, as permitted by the Witness Protection