Warning on pickpockets after 22pc surge in cases this year
Shoppers should beware of pickpockets amid the festive crowds in light of a more than 20 per cent increase in such crimes, police warned yesterday.
The Kowloon West regional police headquarters, which oversees Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui, has seen a rise in theft cases since the city's economy began to recover.
Reports of pickpocketing in the 11 months to November rose 22 per cent to 341, compared to 279 in the same period last year. Snatching, shoplifting and theft from vehicles also increased more than 10 per cent.
Chief Inspector Sandra Chui Yui-luen, of the West Kowloon crime prevention office, said some victims reported their wallets might have been stolen by people behind them on escalators in malls and office buildings.
Some victims also reported losing their handbags in boutiques when they went to the changing rooms.
'Shoppers should not leave bags unattended in crowded areas and should avoid showing off valuables that might attract criminals' attention,' she said. 'They should wear their bags on the front, rather than the back, and stay away from people who get too close. Pickpocketing is a crime that can be avoided.'
Chui said snatching cases mainly occurred when people were out alone at night.
Police would step up patrols with more uniformed and plain-clothes officers in several crowded districts during the Christmas and New Year holidays, she said.
The region's figures show a fall in the incidence of other quick-cash crimes, such as robbery, burglary and street scams.
Chui said the crime prevention office had started a programme earlier this year to identify vacant ground-level shops that posed a risk of break-in to adjacent shops. Officers had visited more than 1,660 shops adjacent to vacant shops in Kowloon West during the year, especially those particularly attractive to burglars such as dried seafood and jewellery shops, and advised them to improve security by fitting steel planks in walls.
