With the
Hong
Kong police force stepping up cooperation with the mainland and
overseas police forces, the number of overall crimes in Hong Kong
has recorded a remarkable fall.
Hong Kong's Police Commissioner Tsang
Yam Pui revealed recently that the number of overall crimes
decreased by 5.5 percent in 2001,while violent crime reports fell
by 8.5 percent, the lowest in 27 years.
In
particular, robberies, wounding cases and serious assaults have
decreased significantly, according to the officer.
Assistant Commissioner Yam Tat-wing said efforts of liaisoning with
various police authorities have paid off and will be rewarding.
In
a recently held Asian regional workshop on the fight against
amphetamine type of drugs, Yam said the police here would step up
cooperation and offer assistance to other law enforcement agencies
to combat drugs trafficking together.
He
said that trafficking in the amphetamine type of drugs was an
organized crime that "recognizes no national borders, and there is
ample evidence to show that criminals from different countries are
collaborating quite freely and readily with each other to further
their illicit interest in this field."
Police officers and representatives from China, nine other
countries and Interpol all attended the workshop co-hosted by the
Australian Federal Police Force and the Hong Kong Police Force to
encourage future sharing of intelligence.
Besides, at the eighth bilateral meeting between Hong Kong police
and a delegation of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security held
recently, Tsang Yam Pui and Assistant to the Minister of Public
Security Zhu Entao agreed to enhance the communication between Hong
Kong and the nearby Mainland provinces.
Zhu said that the cooperation between the Mainland and Hong Kong
Police was already extensive, in-depth and effective, but he said
he hoped that mainland public security authorities in the western
region would also strengthen their contact and cooperation with the
police in Hong Kong.
Another type of crime without border also being tackled by the
police with flying color is computer-related crimes, as last year
saw a 36 percent fall in 2001 compared to the year before.
At
the recently held Third Interpol Asia and South Pacific Working
Party Meeting on Information Technology (IT) Crime, Chief
Superintendent Lo Yik Kee of the Commercial Crime Bureau of the
Hong Kong police said despite the first sign of success, there
should not be complacency.
A
number of countries including Australia, China, India, the Republic
of Korea and Singapore presented their country reports at the
meeting and agreed that international liaison and cooperation were
essential to the fight against IT crime.
Tsang Yam Pui noted that a three-year strategic action plan
starting this year has been developed, with the top priority for
this year being to maintain a strong uniformed police presence on
the streets to suppress the occurrence of violent crimes.
In
addition to increasing ground coverage, improving road safety and
capitalizing on new advances in science and technology to combat
crime, the action plan also addresses training and human resource
development.
The police here will, in March 2002, host an international
conference on transnational organized crime, which will be attended
by prominent members of law enforcement agencies from across the
globe, Tsang said.
(China
Daily February 16, 2002)