Hong Kong's overall crime situation in the first quarter has been stable, with the number of cases rising 1.7 percent on a year earlier to 19,236, Hong Kong's top security official said here Thursday.
From January to March, there were 3,449 violent crimes, up 1.1 percent, said Ambrose Lee, Secretary for Security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.
He said that in the first quarter, murders fell 28.6 percent, robberies fell 16.7 percent, and burglaries fell 8.2 percent, but serious drug offenses rose 5.6 percent.
"The Government is very concerned about the drug problems, particularly about young people abusing psychotropic drugs. The number of young people arrested for serious drug offenses has risen 16.5 percent in the first quarter," Lee noted.
Lee said that a consultant will soon study the implementation of the proposed voluntary school-based drug-testing scheme. Some drug-abuse counseling centers can join it voluntarily.
He added a public consultation will be launched later on whether to empower law-enforcement agencies to conduct mandatory drug testing. Anti-drug education and publicity activities will also be stepped up.
Source: Xinhua
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