ENG-2009 — Page 373

Chapter 16

Public Order

Hong Kong remains one of the world's safest cities. The law and order situation in 2009 was stable, with the overall crime rate (number of crimes per 100 000 people) falling by 1.5 per cent compared with the previous year. The violent crime rate fell by 2.1 per cent, while the overall crime detection rate was 45.6 per cent.

Fight Crime Committee

Established in 1973 under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary for Administration, the Fight Crime Committee (FCC) provides advice and recommendations on measures to prevent and reduce crime, and co-ordinates crime- fighting efforts and monitors their results.

During the year, the committee continued to monitor the overall crime situation and the trend of various types of commercial crime. The committee also kept under review the progress of the 'Police Superintendent's Discretion Scheme', which serves as an alternative to prosecuting young offenders.

In addition, the committee considered the strategy and action plan for the implementation of the recommendations of the Task Force on Youth Drug Abuse, a high level inter-departmental task force established in October 2007 under the chairmanship of the Secretary for Justice. The committee also offered its views on drug testing proposals.

The Standing Committee on Young Offenders, a sub-committee under the Fight Crime Committee, monitored the trend of crimes involving juveniles and young persons. The sub-committee discussed factors which affect the involvement of juveniles and youths in crime and proposed preventive and remedial measures to tackle the problem.

During the year, the Fight Crime Committee launched a publicity campaign against burglaries and internet crimes which showed increase in 2008. To complement the on-going territory-wide campaign against youth drug abuse launched by the Administration since June 2008, the committee also continued its

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