More surveillance cameras to curb crime

Eunice Lam

To step up the fight against crime, more than 600 surveillance cameras will be installed in high-crime areas and busy locations across Hong Kong, says Police Commissioner Raymond Siu Chak-yee.

In a radio broadcast yesterday, Siu said there were 684 burglaries in the first six months of this year, 19.6 percent more than in the same period last year.

Previously, police had installed 15 surveillance cameras in Mong Kok as part of a pilot project, which helped solve several serious crimes, including possession of an imitation firearm and several robberies, he said.

“The most important goal for [installing] Surveillance cameras are used to prevent and combat crime,” he said.

“Our goal is also to improve law and order through the use of technology.”

Siu said Hong Kong needs to step up its installation work, pointing out that Singapore has 90,000 surveillance cameras and London has 800,000.

The police have consulted the Office of the Personal Data Protection Commissioner, he said, adding that all footage filmed complied with the Personal Data Protection (Data Protection) Regulation.

When asked about the cost of the cameras, Siu said it depends on the conditions in each district, as some places require the installation of internet facilities such as routers or fiber optic cables.

He added that costs would be lower in the future as surveillance cameras became more widely available and reiterated that public money was being used wisely.

Siu, meanwhile, said it is difficult for the police to recruit new officers, but he believes these difficulties apply to other industries as well.

He added that the number of applicants had increased by 40 percent in the past year and that the police would continue to review their recruitment campaigns.

Siu said victims of investment fraud lost HK$5.9 billion last year, two-thirds of the total HK$9.1 billion lost in about 39,000 cases last year.

“We have observed that scammers are luring their victims on social media with investment plans that promise high returns,” he said.

“We found that people of different ages and educational backgrounds are looking for such information.”

He added that scammers would even offer their victims a nice initial return to entice them to invest further. In one case, a female victim initially invested HK$900,000 and received HK$300,000 in one day. She then invested a total of HK$9 million before realizing she had fallen victim to a scam.

In the first half of the year, over 45,000 crimes were committed in Hong Kong, including 19,897 fraud offenses. This represents an increase of 6.2 percent compared to the same period last year.

Police have also observed a rise in scams posing as customer service representatives this year – 1,605 more cases than last year. Police will step up their anti-fraud measures in the second half of the year, Siu said.

He urged people to remain vigilant when asked to disclose private information and to think twice before making a bank transfer.

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