ENG-2012 — Page 322

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Public Order

civilian staff, reinforced by some 4,000 volunteers serving in the Hong Kong Auxiliary Police Force. A total of 172 inspectors and 849 constables were appointed during the year.

Crime

Reported crimes in 2012 totalled 75,930, a decrease of 0.01 per cent compared with 75,936 in 2011. The crime rate stood at 1,064 cases per 100,000 population, a drop of 0.9 per cent compared with 1,074 in 2011. The decrease was mainly due to a drop in shop theft, missing motor vehicles and arson offences. The number of violent crimes decreased to 12,821, a drop of 2.1 per cent compared with 13,100 in 2011.

In 2012, there were 616 robberies, a drop of 15.7 per cent compared with 731 in 2011. It was the sixth consecutive year that no case of robbery with genuine firearms was reported. There were three bank robberies (the same as last year), all committed by lone robbers. Regarding non- violent crimes, burglaries decreased from 4,382 in 2011 to 4,214, a decline of 3.8 per cent, while thefts decreased from 35,026 in 2011 to 33,664, a drop of 3.9 per cent.

Of the reported crimes, 43.6 per cent (or 33,094 crimes) were detected, resulting in the arrest of 38,615 persons. Of these, 2,488 were juveniles aged between 10 and 15 and 4,034 were young people aged between 16 and 20. Arrests of youths were mostly for wounding and serious assaults, miscellaneous thefts, serious drug offences and unlawful society offences. Two firearms were seized in 2012, compared with six in 2011.

The number of triad-related crimes increased to 2,340 compared with 2,207 in 2011, an increase of 6 per cent. This type of crime accounted for 3.1 per cent of all reported crimes during the year. To tackle triad activities, a large-scale tripartite anti-triad operation involving the police forces of Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macao was mounted in the second half of 2012, resulting in the arrest of 1,191 persons in Hong Kong for various crimes.

The Organised Crime and Triad Bureau and a number of Asian countries jointly mounted a one- month operation against illegal soccer gambling during the Euro 2012 soccer tournament, resulting in 64 arrests and the seizure of $132 million worth of illegal betting slips.

There were 612 cases of taking a conveyance without authority in 2012, a drop of 31.2 per cent or 278 cases compared with 2011. The number of cases involving motorcycles and private cars decreased by 20.6 per cent and 28.3 per cent respectively.

Domestic Violence and Child Protection

The police continued to prevent and combat domestic violence and child abuse by working closely with other government departments and non-governmental organisations. In collaboration with the Social Welfare Department and the Education Bureau, the police provided training in identifying and handling domestic violence, elder abuse and child abuse cases to concerned professionals as well as organised promotional campaigns on prevention of domestic violence and child protection at district level.

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