Hong Kong's crime cases down 6.2 pct in H1

HONG KONG - Hong Kong recorded 26,550 cases of crime in the first half of 2018, down 6.2 percent over the same period in 2017, the Hong Kong police said on Wednesday.

Reviewing the crime situation of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in the first half of 2018, Li Chi-hang, Police Director of Crime and Security, told a press conference that the region's law and order remained stable, with 1,759 less cases of crime recorded, comparing with the same period last year, which was a new low since 1977 when half-year crime statistics were first kept.

Li told the press that the detection rate was 45 percent during the period, up 0.4 percentage point. Most of the crimes saw a decrease, while some recorded a climb including homicide, wounding and serious assault, indecent assault and deception.

Li said that currently, there is no indication of worsening situation in regard to genuine gun crimes or inflow of firearms, but the police will spare no effort to look into every single case and intelligence involving firearms in order to ensure the safety of the public.

As for serious drug cases, a total of 732 were recorded, down 12.4 percent. Li said the police will continue to maintain close liaison and intelligence exchange with the Chinese mainland and overseas law enforcement agencies to intercept inflow of drugs to Hong Kong.

Talking about terrorism threat, Tang Ping-keung, Police Director of Operations, said at the press conference that there was no specific intelligence suggesting Hong Kong will be under attack.

To ensure the safety of Hong Kong's railway system, the police will set up a reaction force to deal with terrorist incidents and emergencies that might happen in the railway system.