Community Issues

Crime Breakers

Hong Kong’s relatively safe environment can sometimes lull us into a false sense of security. Until recently, it wasn’t uncommon for village residents to leave their doors and windows unlocked and sometimes wide open. Although 164 burglaries in a year might seem insignificant, when it is your privacy that has been violated and your possessions stolen the figures don’t matter.

 

Thanks to our diligent police force, burglaries in SK fell from 226 in 2004 to 164 n 2005. The majority of these occurred in unsecured village houses, often during hours when few people were at home. This 27% reduction in burglaries can be attributed, at least in part, to a series of public awareness events (road shows and other publicity campaigns) of the Sai Kung District of the Hong Kong Police Force. Statistics also show an increase in attempted (rather than completed) burglaries, pointing to increased burglar alarm use and activation. Almost six years ago, a form of Neighbourhood Watch” was set up by residents of Upper Hing  Keng Shek after a series of break-ins and at least one very serious knife attack on a householder. Residents inform each other through a telephone fan-out if a potential burglar is in the area, flood the village with light using powerful searchlights on their rooftops and create noise until the police arrive. A simple, but very effective plan which is implemented through neighbourly cooperation.

 

Last fall, in another cooperative move, the 200 households of Mok Tse Che pooled resources to install 4 closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) in their village. These cameras, with associated warning signs have deterred burglars from even attempting to break in and the crime focus has shifted to adjacent villages. Police offered advice to the villagers on camera location and they have access to the recording should there be any suspicious activity to follow up. Residents can see real-time images of their village on the Internet and call officers to the village if they suspect something suspicious.

 

A few more villages are showing interest in the CCTV program and it is anticipated, after obtaining quotations from security companies, that more will be setting up their own system.  The Police will not monitor the system for any villages, nor will they reduce beat coverage to villages that are under CCTV surveillance.

 

Ian Seabourne, District Commander of Wong Tai Sin District Police (under which Sai Kung District falls); feels so strongly about the lax security in Sai Kung houses that he has written a personal letter to all burglary victims urging them “in the strongest possible terms, to consider installing a good quality burglar  alarm system.” He states: “Other measures such as high quality door locks will help prevent burglaries but in my view the very best security is installation of a burglar alarm.” Don’t wait to get the District Commander’s letter…do it now to save yourself and your family some grief!