Crime figures for 2024 H1 up 5.6 percent

Police on Saturday unveiled that Hong Kong recorded more than 45,300 crimes during the first half of the year, a 5.6 percent increase from the same period a year ago. Deception made up about 40 percent of all cases. Victims – who were mostly scammed online – were swindled out of HK$4.48 billion in total. Even though the number of "Guess Who" phone scams were down by 61 percent, the force pointed out that fraudsters had adopted new tactics such as impersonating staff of e-shopping and online payment platforms, and telecommunications companies. The force also revealed that its robbery detection rate of 84.1 percent was the highest since it started maintaining statistics for the period in 1977, with police stepping up anti-burglary patrols, especially in areas with village houses. Officers noted they used drones and partnered with the Government Flying Service to carry out air patrols. As of June 30 this year, 300 arrests have been made under the National Security Law that was put in place four years ago, it added. About 60 percent of those arrested have been charged.