Chief Executive Carrie Lam today chaired the 265th meeting of the Fight Crime Committee (FCC), which was also the last one in this term of Government.

During the meeting, members were briefed that Hong Kong's law and order situation in the first quarter of this year remained stable, with a 6.2% year-on-year decrease in the total number of crime cases and a 10% drop in violent crime.

A total of 13,866 crime cases were recorded for the period while the detection rate stood at 29.2%.

Members expressed support for Police to continue their efforts in combating various crimes through devoting resources for publicity and education, adopting a multi-agency approach and stepping up intelligence-led enforcement operations, especially against online deception cases and youngsters committing criminal offences.

On the drug abuse problem, members learnt that the total number of reported drug abusers, young drug abusers and young people arrested for drug offences increased in the previous year.

They noted that more people, especially youngsters, were reported to have abused cocaine and cannabis and expressed concerns about the 20% increase in the number of people arrested for drug offences as compared to the figure in 2020. The number of young arrestees aged under 21 for serious drug offences also rose by 37%.

Members were of the view that although the overall drug abuse and drug situation in the city was generally under control, the community needed to stay vigilant, particularly in drug offences involving young people.

Meanwhile, the Correctional Services Department will continue to organise various public education activities and publicity campaigns to appeal for public acceptance of and community support for rehabilitated offenders, in addition to helping the prevention of crime and educating the public on the operation of Hong Kong's criminal justice system.

Members supported the department's efforts in the rehabilitation of offenders and were pleased to note that such activities had received a positive response from the community.

Separately, the FCC will continue to provide funding to district fight crime committees (DFCCs) in organising publicity activities, with a view to complementing the citywide anti-crime publicity campaign in disseminating fight crime messages to various sectors in the community.

Mrs Lam thanked the FCC and DFCCs for their valuable advice and suggestions to the law enforcement agencies over the years in maintaining Hong Kong's stability and prosperity.

“I am confident that with our concerted efforts, Hong Kong would continue to be one of the safest cities in the world,” she said.

As the post of the Chief Secretary, who is the FCC chairperson, is vacant, the meeting today was chaired by the Chief Executive.