Hong Kong’s police chief emphasises importance of cooperation between the force and security industry amid 20% rise in crime

“If they can be our effective eyes and ears and if they can give us a call whenever they see anything suspicious, then we can work very effectively to fight crime together,” the commissioner said.

The city recorded 90,276 crimes in 2023, a 28.9 per cent jump compared with the figure in the previous year, while the overall detection rate, or the proportion of crimes solved was 31.1 per cent.

Police last year handled 39,824 scams, accounting for 44.1 per cent of all recorded crimes.

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A record 34,112 cases of technology-related fraud were logged last year, 50 per cent higher than in 2022. Victims also lost a record HK$5.49 billion to scammers, a 71 per cent increase compared with the year before.

To combat crimes and ensure public safety, authorities plan to install 615 cameras in Hong Kong’s public areas by March and 2,000 in total by the end of the year, with a focus on densely populated zones and high-crime areas.

Siu also stressed the importance of working together with the public and private sectors to tackle youth crimes, saying each working partner brought their own professional knowledge.

“We have meetings, and we have communication work groups in order to get together to see how we can work effectively in order to tackle youth crimes,” he said.

Last year, 3,041 youngsters were arrested in the city, 10 per cent higher than in 2022. These teenagers mostly participated in scams and theft.