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As Hong Kong protests raged, police solved lowest percentage of cases in 19 years

  • Policing set to ‘go back to normal’ next month, as thousands of officers drafted in to deal with demonstrations since last June return to original assignments
  • But protective barriers outside force HQ and government offices to remain

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Police recorded a fourfold surge in the number of robberies in 2019. Photo: May Tse
Hong Kong police were able to solve only a third of reported crimes last year, the lowest rate since 2001, while the number of offences surged for the first time in 13 years, reflecting the toll taken on law enforcement by months of anti-government protests and social unrest.
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The worrying figures were unveiled in the government’s annual budget report on Wednesday, as the Post learned police planned to resume foot patrols to battle a recent surge in robberies when thousands of officers assigned to special protest squads return to their regular duties in March.

Police handled 59,225 reports of crime in 2019, solving 21,965. The overall detection rate was 37 per cent, down from 46.5 per cent in 2018.

Both the rate and the total number of crimes solved were the lowest since 2001, and it also marked the first overall rise in crime since 2006, when there were 81,125 reports.

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While the budget document did not provide a breakdown of the kinds of crime reported, the Post learned there were surges in offences such as robbery, burglary, theft from vehicles, criminal damage and arson.

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