Commissioner Siu Chak-yee reviewed the overall law and order of Hong Kong in 2022 and outlined the work focuses of the Force in 2023 at a press conference on February 14. Deputy Commissioner (National Security) Lau Chi-wai, Deputy Commissioner (Operations) Yuen Yuk-kin and Deputy Commissioner (Management) Chow Yat-ming also attended the press conference.

Overall crime situation

The overall number of crimes reported in 2022 was 70 048 cases, representing an increase of 5 620 cases or 8.7%. The overall detection rate was 35.2%. The overall crimes registered an increase, which was mainly attributed to the rise of over 8 000 deception cases.

There were 8 830 cases of violent crime, a drop of 757 cases or 7.9%. Substantial decreases were registered in a number of major crimes, including sexual offences, criminal intimidation, criminal damage, serious drug offences, theft from vehicle, etc. The number of robbery and burglary cases was the lowest since records began in 1969. Cases of wounding and serious assault, arson, snatching and pickpocketing had also dropped to a record low since Hong Kong’s return to the Motherland.

Homicide

There were 30 cases of homicide in 2022, representing an increase of 7 cases (+30.4%). 15 of the cases involved domestic or family violence. All of the cases were detected.

Deception

The number of deception cases registered a significant increase to 27 923 cases by 45.1% (+8 674 cases). Over 70% of the reports were Internet-related.

The jump was mainly driven by the upsurge of cases in online shopping scams (8 735 cases), employment fraud (2 996 cases), investment fraud (2 850 cases) and telephone deception (2 831 cases), noting a soar ranging from 40% to 1.8 folds respectively. The huge amount involved in investment fraud and telephone deception, which was over $1.8 billion and $1 billion respectively, remained a cause of concern.

The Anti-Deception Coordination Centre (ADCC) continued to contribute by intercepting over $1.3 billion of payments and prevented victims of over 500 deception cases from wiring money to fraudsters. Meanwhile, Police had stepped up intelligence-led operations, neutralising multiple deception syndicates with the arrest of about 1 300 persons. Police detected 410 telephone deception cases with the arrest of 205 persons in Operation UPSHORE, successfully intercepting over $20 million of involved assets.

Apart from taking enforcement actions, Police had set up a designated working group with the Office of the Communications Authority and major mobile network operators in September last year to formulate measures to combat telephone deception, such as helping clients to filter and block suspicious incoming calls.

Police had made use of various channels to disseminate anti-scam information. Major initiatives rolled out over the past year included Anti-Deception Season, Emotional Disturbances Faced by Scam Victims, Anti-money Laundering Month, Anti-Scam Test Across the Territory, etc. The campaigns were launched using different themes and through analysing the modus operandi used by scammers from multiple perspectives, with a view to raising anti-deception awareness.

Police introduced the search engine Scameter last year to help members of the public to identify suspicious incoming calls, emails, etc., and launched the newly-developed mobile app Scameter+ to facilitate public use.

Blackmail

A total of 1 826 cases of blackmail were recorded, representing an increase of 234 cases (+14.7%) when compared with last year. The surge was mainly attributed to “naked chat” blackmail, totalling 1 402 cases.

In a bid to step up the publicity work, Police hosted a large-scale campaign, Cyber Security Expo 2022 last year. A cyber security campaign named All-round CyberDefender is now being held.

Triad-related Crimes

There were 2 554 cases of triad-related crimes, representing an increase of 666 case (+35.3%). The surge was mainly attributed to deception cases, serious gambling offences, cases of taking conveyance without authority and cases concerning procuring/controlling of prostitution.

Police has all along been monitoring triad-related illegal activities. Following the occurrence of several serious violence cases involving triads last year, Police immediately strengthened its collaboration with relevant government departments and Mainland law enforcement agencies. The majority of the cases were detected. Last year, Police also conducted large-scale anti-triad operations and mounted anti-illegal gambling operations during the World Cup period with the arrest of over 1 000 persons. Meanwhile, Police had stepped up its effort in combating cases concerning controlling of prostitution and cases of deception with triad involvement. Over 200 persons were arrested and 300 deception cases were detected.

Robbery and burglary

The number of cases of robbery and burglary continued to plummet. The number of robbery cases had decreased significantly by 37% to 77 cases. The detection rate was 74%. The number of burglary cases had also decreased significantly by 40% to 886 cases. The detection rate was 43%, which was the highest in the past 46 years. Police will continue to mount intelligence-led operations and deploy resources flexibly to combat relevant crimes.

Sexual offences

There were 53 cases of rape, representing a decrease of 33%. A total of 953 cases of indecent assault were recorded, representing a drop of 65 cases (-6.4%). Detection rates of rape and indecent assault cases remained high, at 100% and 80.9% respectively. Police will continue to pay attention to the trend of sexual offences and collaborate with relevant stakeholders for targeted publicity and public education.

Serious drug offences

There were 1 436 cases of serious drug offences, representing a decrease of 134 cases. Over the past year, Police had continued to mount operations to combat drug offences. Drug seizures of methamphetamine, cocaine and cannabis recorded increases, including the record seizure of 905 kg of cannabis buds (with an estimated market value of about $190 million) in September.

Youth crime

In 2022, a total of 2 774 youngsters (aged 10 to 20) were arrested for committing criminal offences, registering a decrease of 8.2% (-247 persons) when compared with last year. Among them, the number of students arrested had decreased by 11% (1 620 persons, -200 persons) from a year earlier on. There were a significant decrease in the number of students arrested for robbery (-80.6%), serious drug offences (-40%), shop theft (-36%) and criminal damage (-16.7%). This indicated that the heightening of students’ awareness against crimes had been made possible through close collaboration among the Force, school principals, teachers, parents and other stakeholders over the past year.

Although the number of students arrested for serious drug offences registered a decrease of 40% (78 persons, -52 persons), there were 17 students aged 13 to 14 being exploited by drug syndicates and arrested for drug trafficking offences. One single youth crime is far too many. Police calls for conjoint efforts from all sectors of the community to prevent young people from being exploited by lawbreakers.

Besides, young people might be misled and influenced by bad peers, or lured by lawbreakers into engaging in illegal activities in the hope of earning “quick money”. Last year, the number of youngsters arrested for providing their bank accounts for receiving funds involved in scams in deception cases or for unlawful society offences recorded increases.

Last year, Police published a booklet titled A Chronicle of Juvenile Crimes – Strategies for Teachers and Parents, which provided anti-crime strategies and messages for teachers, parents and youngsters. Police also produced e-books and animation picture books on online pitfalls and deception for distribution to all primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong. In addition, Police has recently implemented the second Leadership Institute on Narcotics programme, which is an initiative to prevent young people from involving in drugs. This year, Police will continue to heighten the youth’s law-abiding awareness through various channels.

Enforcement on National Security Law

As at December 31, 2022, Police arrested a total of 236 persons. Of these, over 140 persons have been charged.

Commissioner’s Operational Priorities 2023

There are eight items for the Commissioner’s Operational Priorities 2023, which include safeguarding national security; combating violent crimes; combating triads, syndicated and organised crimes; combating dangerous drugs; combating quick cash crimes; enhancing cyber security and combating technology crimes; enhancing public safety; and enhancing counter-terrorism.

Work focuses in 2023

Firstly, to continue to safeguard national security and engage the whole community to counter terrorism. We have to guard against the threat of extreme violence of “home-grown” terrorism that is going underground. Police will keep up its effort to strengthen the effectiveness of intelligence gathering and proactively raise public “Spot and Report” awareness and their responsiveness towards terrorist incidents through different media and activities.

Secondly, to ensure public safety and order, and focus on fighting and preventing crimes. As the pandemic subsides, social and economic activities are moving forward along the path to normalcy. Police strives to ensure that public activities under gradual resumption are conducted in a safe and orderly manner. At the same time, Police will continue to give priority to issues concerning law and order situation that are of public concerns, including proactively working in collaboration with relevant departments, regulatory authorities and industries to formulate additional measures to combat deception.

Thirdly, to continuously strengthen youth engagement work. Police will continue to foster multi-agency cooperation among different sectors of the community and reach out to young people in a soft approach with a view to heightening their law-abiding awareness and creating a boarder platform for them to fully utilise their talents.

Fourthly, to enhance community engagement. Police will continue to work in close and effective collaboration with the community to enhance public understanding of policing work and strengthen their trust and support to Police by way of optimising police services and enhancing transparency.