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Following is the transcript (English portion) of the remarks made to the media by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, after the Fight Crime Committee meeting today (September 24):
Secretary for Security: This morning, the Fight Crime Committee held its meeting. We were reviewing the crime situation for the first eight months of 2005. I am happy to report that we have registered a continued decline in the number of crime cases. The number of crimes decreased by as much as six per cent for the first eight months of this year. We have also witnessed a minor decline in the number of violent crimes. The types of crimes that have registered a drop included robberies, burglary, serious drug offences, murder and the like. Of course, we have seen some increases in some sectors like criminal intimidation and assaults. By and large, the crime situation in Hong Kong is stable and the law and order situation in Hong Kong is also stable. We are glad to see that the crime figures relating to juveniles and young persons also recorded a double-digit decrease for the first eight months of this year. And, as far as Mainlanders are concerned, we have also seen a minor decrease in the number of cases despite the fact that the number of tourists is on the rise. So, by and large, Hong Kong is a very safe city.
Reporter: …the number of juvenile crimes has decreased…But, are the cases more serious than before?
Secretary for Security: I think the figure speaks for itself. The number of juveniles found in connection with criminal activities is on the decline. If my recollection is right, for those aged between 16 and 20, the decline is as much as 19 per cent. Now, there is no indication that although as you said the figure has decreased, the severity of the offences is on the high side. There is no indication about it.
Reporter: …reasons for the increase in criminal intimidation…?
Secretary for Security: The Fight Crime Committee discussed this issue this morning. We found out that although the number of cases was increasing, the majority of these cases related to some personal conflict between individuals like they had a quarrel and then someone said something which was threatening and then that was classified as criminal intimidation. The statistics indicated that over 50 per cent of these criminal intimidation cases related to personal sort of quarrels or arguments and things like that. Only about 9.6 or something below 10 per cent of these criminal intimidation cases actually related to triad activities.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript)
Ends/Saturday, September 24, 2005
Issued at HKT 14:01
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