Police account of rising crime amid protests belies key stat: crime is down year-on-year

Police representative Kwok Ka-cheun discusses crime statistics at a police press conference yesterday. Screengrab via Facebook.
Police representative Kwok Ka-cheun discusses crime statistics at a police press conference yesterday. Screengrab via Facebook.

Police officials told reporters yesterday that the force would “not rule out” the influence of the city’s ongoing protest movement on a rise in the prevalence of certain crimes, as seemingly evidenced by a recent spate of high-profile robberies.

However, the selective statistics detailed at yesterday’s press conference belie a counterintuitive fact borne out by a more complete picture of police figures: even after months of increasingly intense clashes between police and protesters, and unprecedented images of smashed-up storefronts and burning MTR stations, overall crime across the board, as of the end of October, is down compared to last year — a fact confirmed by police today.

Chief Superintendent Kwok Ka-Chuen told reporters yesterday that robberies, burglaries, and arsons were up compared to 2018, saying it was possible that criminals were taking the advantage of the movement to commit crimes while police find themselves stretched to the breaking point containing protests.

“Rioters have pushed our rule of law to the brink of total collapse. Since June, there has been a significant increase in the number of hard crimes including burglary, arson and armed robberies,” Kwok said, without offering specific figures.




A spate of three robberies — two in Yau Ma Tei and one in Causeway Bay — that took place over the span of 24 hours yesterday and the day before appeared to give credence to Kwok’s assertion. At around noon yesterday, six gloved and masked men entered a jewelry store in Yau Ma Tei with butcher knives and hammers in hand, Apple Daily reports. They smashed several display cabinets and snatched an estimated HK$1 million (about US$128,000) in gold before making a run for it.

Earlier in the day, a 23-year-old surnamed Deng was struck in the back of his head near Nathan Road after leaving a bank with some HKD$200,000 (about US$25,700) in cash. The assailant made off with his bag and money, leaving Deng on the ground bleeding. Police are now looking for two suspects between 20 to 30 wearing dark shirts, trousers and masks at the time of the incident.

Meanwhile, in Causeway Bay, a watch store lost HKD$600,000 (about US$77,100) worth of merchandise in a smash-and-grab robbery perpetrated by three suspects on Sunday evening, Stand News reports.

However, a look at all police statistics — from January through October, the latest available — shows that crime across the board as compared to the same period last year was slightly down (just under 1 percent) overall, while violent crime in particular was down 4.4 percent.

Homicides were down nearly 60 percent, wounding and serious assaults were down by around 1 percent, domestic violence was down by nearly 20 percent, and rape and indecent assault were down by about 22 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

Serious drug offenses, meanwhile, were down more than 40 percent, thefts and fraud were both down about 6 percent, and criminal intimidation and blackmail were down 23 and 30 percent respectively. Triad-related crimes specifically were down more than 20 percent.

At the time the statistics were compiled, robberies were also down almost 9 percent. Kwok, however, said they had risen since last year, suggesting the cases took place in November and December, which — outside of a period of intense protests following the death of a student protester in early November — saw comparatively few violent wildcat protests.

According to the police statistics, cases of arson and criminal damage were indeed up — by about 91 percent and 36 percent, respectively — as would be expected given protesters’ increasing inclination towards lobbing petrol bombs and vandalizing shops and MTR stations.

Burglaries were also up by about 32 percent, though under Hong Kong law, the definition of burglary also covers the offense of causing damage while trespassing — something that could describe a number of protest-related activities — in addition to actual theft.

When contacted today, a police representative declined to discuss how burglaries were classified, but acknowledged that crime was indeed down across the board, before declining to comment further.

Pro-dems, meanwhile, have been quick to lay the blame for the recent spate of robberies at the feet of police rather than protesters.

Legislative Councilor Roy Kwong said yesterday that the force needed to refocus its efforts on crime, and condemned the police for blaming the robberies on the city’s protest movement.

“Everyone is at fault but not the police,” he said sarcastically. “It’s not their wrongdoing for not being able to capture these suspects, but the protesters’.”

Pro-dem district councillor Lam Kin Man, of Yau Tsim Mong district, in a radio interview today accused police of neglecting to patrol the streets, saying recent crimes were an inevitable result, RTHK reports.

Lam said he had spoken to police following the two robberies in his district, and had been told that traditional two-man foot patrols had been suspended of late.

Meanwhile, the owner of the Causeway Bay store robbed on Sunday told Stand News that police patrols in his area had also disappeared, adding that while police cars occasionally patrol Hennessy Road, officers don’t walk the streets on foot.

Apple Daily recently reported on a leaked document from a police meeting held by Commissioner Chris Tang showing that an officer suggested cancelling patrol operations and putting police on so-called “standby mode” instead. According to the document, Deng did not object, but said that a review must first be conducted before making such a decision.

*A previous version of this article incorrectly named the police commissioner as Deng Bing Keung. The police commissioner’s name is Chris Tang. We apologise for the error.

Read more Hong Kong coverage at Coconuts HK.



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