During that speech I suggested that since the handover, just as Hong Kong has been jealously guarding its 'uniqueness', self-administration and status as a separate entity on the one hand, it has at the same time sought to claim its place as a major player within the process of integration occurring within the Pearl River Delta region.

Underpinning what appears to some people to be a contradictory relationship between Hong Kong and the Mainland, we have seen the strategies employed by both private- and public-sector organisations in Hong Kong who continue to shift their focus in order to meet the challenges raised by the socio-economic mesh now being woven with our Mainland neighbours.

Hong Kong, Mainland Police work closely together

As an organisation, the Hong Kong Police Force is no different in this regard. Indeed the effect of closer integration with the Mainland has led to a certain irony.

I say this because in 1997 many people forecast a dramatic deterioration in Hong Kong's crime situation in the years to come and as integration with the Mainland gained momentum. What has happened in reality since, however, is quite the opposite.

Through force of circumstance, the Hong Kong Police have been required to forge increasingly close links and cooperation with our Mainland counterparts. This has enabled us to not only maintain safety and stability on our streets, but also preserve Hong Kong's unique image for low crime and good public order.

In a policing context, the realities of working within very diverse legal, judicial and administrative frameworks prevent the Force here or the police on the Mainland from talking in terms of "integration" between us as organisations.

However, within the context of the cross-boundary economic and social integration which is happening all around us there has been tremendous scope, as well as already tangible progress in terms of liaison, cooperation and knowledge sharing with Mainland law enforcement.

Cross-boundary anti-crime operations effective

I was reassured of this fact in early June this year when I visited the Mainland to conduct my annual bilateral talks with counterparts in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. As in all my previous dealings with Mainland authorities I was once again tremendously encouraged by the reception I received, as well as the wholehearted commitment expressed by Mainland Police to cooperating with us here in Hong Kong.

Joint cross-boundary anti-crime operations have received prominent press coverage in recent years and have undoubtedly been very effective in real terms. However these high-profile initiatives aside, I have also been exceptionally pleased to see how far we have come in terms of developing channels for exchanging criminal intelligence, cross training, joint research programmes as well as sharing best practice.

Intelligence exchanges with Mainland cut serious crimes

One of the priorities for the Hong Kong Police in recent years has been to combat serious and violent crimes and in particular those which involve the use of genuine firearms. It is in this area that our close working relationship and exchange of intelligence with our Mainland counterparts has been particularly important and has resulted in our ability to curb such crime to a low level.

The importance of our success in gun crime cannot be overstated and indeed this achievement mirrors successes in many other areas, such as drug trafficking and a variety of cross-border economic crimes.

However, it would be foolish for me to suggest that Hong Kong is without its crime problems. Of course it is not. Fluctuations in crime patterns and specific problems occur routinely. However what I wish to stress is that the overall situation within Hong Kong remains very stable.

Half-yearly crime figures shows serious crimes on the wane

You would have learned from TV and newspapers the 2003 half-yearly crime statistics which were released last week.

The media quite correctly put the focus on a rise in the variety of minor thefts and also crimes such as criminal damage and criminal intimidation which harbour an anti-social behaviour element.

What is vital in these statistics, but unfortunately not given any prominence in press coverage, is that we have continued to succeed in curbing the majority of priority, serious crimes. The number of homicides, kidnappings, rapes, indecent assaults, serious narcotics offences, missing vehicles and triad-related offences have all gone down.

For example, we did not have a single case of kidnapping so far this year. I touch wood when I say this. Particularly encouraging was the significant decrease in the number of robberies - which dropped to a daily average of eight cases, minor and serious robberies, the lowest daily return recorded since 1970.

Police quell four armed-robbery syndicates

This period also saw the Force neutralising four armed-robbery syndicates, with the arrest of 14 persons, including six illegal immigrants and one two-way permit holder, and the seizure of six genuine firearms.

One of the syndicates is believed to have been responsible for 14 serious robbery cases, including a cash-in-transit robbery which occurred in Kwai Chung in March where a security guard was murdered. Again self-developed, but perhaps more importantly, direct intelligence exchange with the Mainland allowed us to intercept these dangerous criminals before they could fulfill their intention of committing robbery within the SAR.

Murders strengthen resolve to stop firearms smuggling

But of course not everything is a success story. Two well publicised incidents involving the use of firearms in the murder of two Hong Kong residents occurred within one week in June. These quite correctly raised public concern and drew much media attention. 

However they remain isolated incidents and do not suggest a trend for increased use of genuine firearms for crime, and if anything these cases have served to strengthen our resolve to prevent the smuggling of firearms into Hong Kong.

Also, there has been a rather disturbing phenomenon in what I've just mentioned and described as criminal anti-social behaviour. We can see that an increase in personal and social pressures is causing a tendency towards violence or the propensity to challenge authority.

Criminal anti-social behaviour a disturbing trend

In reviewing what has caused the rise seen in overall crime figures, we have discovered a significant increase in the number of minor opportunistic thefts being perpetrated. Similarly notice must be made of an increasing trend towards offences which harbour an 'anti-social behaviour' element.

There has been a clear and significant increase recorded in categories of crime which involve a common element of violence. Offences include instances of serious assaults, criminal damage, criminal intimidation, assault against police, resisting arrest, as well as disorderly conduct/fighting in a public place.

A basic understanding of the nature of the offences I've listed will show that personal frustrations and pressures are key motivating factors. Unemployment, disenchantment with what is happening in society generally, as well as overall economic woes have undoubtedly contributed to an increase in those types of offences. We are now actively adopting strategies to address this issue.

However, two questions remain. The first question is, are we seeing the deterioration in crime in Hong Kong after the 1997 handover? The second question is, are the increases seen in certain types of crime a result of our integration with the Mainland? 

Overall crime rates fall dramatically since handover

As I stated earlier, crime patterns fluctuate from day to day, month to month, year to year.  A consistent, and perhaps more realistic impression can be formed by looking at crime trends over a longer period. If we were to take and compare the general crime situation in the five years before, and then the five years after, the handover what would this show?

The results are quite dramatic.Rather than a deterioration, we see a marked decrease in overall crime as well as almost all key crime:

* overall crime down 13.9%;

* violent crime down 15.2%;

* rape down 10%;

* burglary down 30%;

* murder down 22.7%;

* robbery down 47.2%; and

* robbery with firearms down 57.9%.

Although we have seen a rise in petty thefts and the less serious crimes so far this year,  in essence, Hong Kong remains safe and very much a stable society in terms of crime. Certainly the deterioration in the overall crime situation which was predicted in 1997 has not materialised.

More Mainland visitors, more Mainlanders arrested for crime

That said, and as highlighted earlier, we are not without concerns - and indeed several of these result directly from increased integration with the Mainland.

More specifically, the increase in the number of Mainland residents visiting Hong Kong in recent years has had a negative impact on crime trends and other social issues. The tremendous increase in the number of visitors from the Mainland, mostly travelling on Two Way Permit arrangements, has brought a corresponding increase in the number of persons from the Mainland being arrested for crime.

The rise in Two Way Permit visitors since 1997 has been particularly dramatic, with the half million seen that year, 1997,  rising to 4.4 million in 2002. The number of Mainland visitors arrested for crime increased from 749 to 1,860 - some two-and-a-half times - in this period.

In addition to crime, the issue of female Mainland visitors working as prostitutes in Hong Kong has also caused much public concern. There are other Mainlanders who have been arrested in Hong Kong for illegal gambling, taking up of illegal employment, selling illicit cigarettes or pirated goods, mendicancy, illegal hawking, or just overstaying their two-way permit deadline in order to give birth in Hong Kong.

Cooperation with Mainland curbs cross-boundary crime

These are the problems which arrest and immediate repatriation alone cannot solve. But again, our ever improving links and cooperation with the Mainland authorities is leading to clear successes and solutions to these issues

April this year saw one of our most proactive steps in this area to date, when an Inter-departmental Task Force under the chairmanship of the Hong Kong Police Force was established.

The Task Force comprises representatives from the Immigration, Customs & Excise, and Correctional Services Departments, as well as the Labour, Lands, and Food & Environmental Hygiene Departments. Its role is to target two way permit holders involved in crime and other illegal activities by liaising directly with Mainland- issuing authorities in order to impose effective, stringent controls on the application process of Two Way Permits.

It also seeks to establish means to bolster effective screening of those coming in at Hong Kong immigration-control points, as well as develop strategies for enhancing street level enforcement against illegal activities.

Personal-capacity visits will create new challenges

There is little doubt that further challenges related to integration with the Mainland will continue to confront us in the years ahead. Indeed, the scheme which commenced three days ago to allow residents from different parts of Guangdong Province to visit Hong Kong on an individual basis will see the number of Mainland visitors surge even further.

The number of illegal activities involving these visitors is expected to show a corresponding increase. In response I have deliberately included action against crime committed by Mainlanders as one of my six operational targets for this year.

Mainland issues remain a principle policing focus for us.But with the support of our Mainland colleagues I believe we will be able to deal effectively with these issues and overcome the difficulties involved.

Hong Kong as a community enjoyed stability and safety for the years running up to 1997, as it continues to so do, maybe to an even greater extent, as we move beyond this historical marker. 

Hong Kong Police equipped to maintain stability

The growth in Hong Kong's exchanges with the Mainland and particularly the large increase in the number of Mainlanders coming here will undoubtedly continue to bring immense economic benefits to Hong Kong. Correspondingly, it has also the potential to compound some of the problems which already exist, as well as introduce wholly new challenges which require a credible and effective response.

The Hong Kong Police Force will meet these challenges as they arise, in the same way as we have done so successfully in the past. I wish to assure you that we are fully prepared and equipped to maintain the stability and safety which the people of Hong Kong have come to expect of us.

The Commissioner of Police gave this address to a luncheon at the Foreign Correspondents' Club.