Overall Crime Situation Remains Stable in Hong KongThe overall crime situation in Hong Kong remains stable and most of the crimes including quick cash crimes or crime of opportunistic nature also shows a decline in the first eight months this year when compared with the same period last year, a police spokesman said Monday.In response to recent press reports that the "quick cash" crimes had increased in Hong Kong due to economic downturn, the spokesman points out that there is no evidence to suggest the crime situation in Hong Kong is deteriorating. Police statistics revealed that the overall crime rate decreased from 778.4 per 100,000 population during January-August 2000 to 712.7 per 100,000 population during January-August 2001, down by 8.4 percent. The number of violent crimes dropped from 10,006 during January- August 2000 to 8,876 during January-August 2001, a decrease of 11. 3 percent, the spokesman said. Quick cash crime and crime of opportunistic nature had also dropped. Burglary cases dropped by 6 per cent from 6,010 cases in January-August 2000 to 5,650 cases in January-August 2001. Robbery cases also dropped from 2,348 during January-August 2000 to 2,015 during January-August 2001, a decrease of 14.2 percent. |
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