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Following is a question by the Hon James To and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Lau Kong-wah, in the Legislative Council today (March 2):
Question:
It has been reported that illegal gambling activities are often found in several districts across the territory, seriously affecting the environment as well as the law and order of the districts concerned. Although the Police have taken a number of law enforcement actions with gamblers being arrested and prosecuted, most of the gambling activities have continued to exist despite repeated crackdowns. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of (i) the number of law enforcement actions taken by the Police to combat gambling activities in public places, and (ii) the respective numbers of persons so arrested and prosecuted, in each of the past three years, with a tabulated breakdown by District Council district;
(2) whether the Police have instructed police officers on beat to step up patrol of the various black spots of gambling activities; if they have, of the frequency of the patrol; if not, the reasons for that;
(3) given that gambling activities are often found on and under the footbridge between Hoi Fan Road and Nam Cheong Park, and that place is located at the junction of Mong Kok Police District and Sham Shui Po Police District, whether the two police districts took joint law enforcement actions there last year; if they did not, of the reasons for that; and
(4) given that the Police formed an inter-departmental working group with the government departments concerned and non-governmental organisations in 2007 to formulate strategies to combat gambling activities in public places within Tsuen Wan Police District, and the group's work has yielded notable results according to the Police, whether the Police will make reference to such a practice and set up similar working groups for other police districts to combat gambling activities within their districts; if they will, of the work progress in the various police districts; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
It is the policy of the Government not to encourage gambling. To alleviate the gambling-related problems, we have adopted a multi-pronged strategy which includes regulation, law enforcement, public education and provision of counselling and treatment services.
The reply to the Hon James To's question is set out as follows:
(1) The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) has spared no effort in combating illegal gambling activities and has been monitoring such illegal activities for enforcement. Figures of persons arrested for involvement in illegal gambling offences in the past three years are as follows:
2013 2014 2015
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Number of persons 5 230 3 605 4 427
arrested
The figures on gambling-related enforcement actions and prosecutions are not available.
(2), (3) and (4) To combat illegal gambling activities, especially those involving triad-related or organised crimes, HKPF has been combating illegal gambling activities through prevention, education, intelligence collection and law enforcement.
HKPF has strategies in place to combat illegal gambling activities and the flexibility to adjust its operation and deployment depending on the situation. Taking into account local situations, various Police Regions and Districts will correspondingly adopt strategies and take enforcement actions to prevent and combat on-street gambling. HKPF will cooperate with other departments (such as the Housing Department and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department) and stakeholders when necessary to combat related crimes.
Ends/Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Issued at HKT 11:35
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