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)