ENG-2006 — Page 377

Public Order | 309

Altogether, there were 1 574 robberies in 2006, a drop of 6 per cent compared to 1 675 in 2005. There was one robbery with genuine firearms, compared to three in 2005. There were 23 bank robberies, or eight more than in 2005. Most of these were perpetrated by lone robbers without resorting to serious violence.

The number of burglaries fell from 5 492 in 2005 to 5 315 in 2006, a drop of 3.2 per cent. Serious narcotics offences increased from 1 780 in 2005 to 2 122 in 2006, a rise of 19.2 per cent. Thefts rose from 35 213 in 2005 to 37 089 in 2006, up by 5.3 per cent.

Of the reported crimes in 2006, 44.6 per cent or 36 192 crimes were detected, with 42 228 people arrested for various criminal offences. Of those, 4 510 were aged between 10 and 15 and 4 974 were aged between 16 and 20. Most of them were arrested for shop thefts, miscellaneous thefts, wounding and serious assaults, and robberies. Drug-related offences were also prevalent among the crimes committed by young offenders.

Incidents involving firearms remained at a low level. There were five reported incidents involving the use of firearms, compared to four in the previous year, and 10 firearms were seized during the year. The Police continue to carry out intelligence-led operations and strategic exchange of intelligence with the relevant authorities in other jurisdictions.

In 2006, 1 774 vehicles were reported missing compared with 1 592 in 2005, an increase of 11.4 per cent. The increase was probably due to a rise in demand for vehicles and vehicle parts in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. But the number fell in the second half of the year following vigorous enforcement action.

There was a steady decline in organised and triad-related crimes, attributed to sustained and concerted enforcement action. In 2006, a total of 2 396 triad-related cases were recorded, accounting for 3 per cent of the total of 81 125 reported crimes.

To tackle activities committed by organised crime groups and triad societies, over 85 intelligence-led operations targeting certain individuals and their sources of revenue were carried out successfully, resulting in the arrest of more than 280 people for offences such as extortion, loan sharking, syndicated vice, vehicle crimes, gambling and being members of a triad society. Some of these operations were conducted with neighbouring jurisdictions such as the Mainland, Macao, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia as cross-border criminal activities increased in recent years.

During World Cup 2006, 191 raids were conducted against illegal football gambling, resulting in the arrest of 196 people and the seizure of betting slips worth $75 million, 84 computers and eight internet servers. As a result, major gambling syndicates in Hong Kong were neutralised.

Domestic Violence, Child Abuse and Elder Abuse

The Police received 4 704 reports of domestic violence during the year, 1 811 of which were crime-related and 2 893 were miscellaneous, representing a rise of 79 per cent compared to 2005. The increase is believed to be due to greater public