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Corruption exists, but citizens suffer less crime than Japanese, UN study finds

A  UN survey claims to have uncovered what most residents have always known - Hong Kong is one of the world's safest cities, with crime most likely to happen when they are away from home.

The  UN's International Crime Victim Survey,  which compares the victims of crime in more than 30 countries, also revealed that none of the 2,228 Hongkongers surveyed reported any personal experience  of police or government corruption.

But the authors said an upcoming survey on business crime had found there was still corruption at a high level in the city.

The crime survey also found Hong Kong had a lower percentage of crimes such as assault, sexual assault, burglary and personal robbery than Japan, and more Hongkongers felt safer walking around at night than in the nation frequently considered the standard-bearer for a relatively crime-free society.

Hong Kong was the only Chinese city included in the survey, conducted by the University of Hong Kong's Centre for Criminology and the Social Services Research Centre.

One of the authors, Queensland University of Technology's Rod Broadhurst,  said there were many factors that kept crime low in the city.

Dr Broadhurst said high levels of public surveillance and the fact many people lived in gated communities with guards helped, as  did Chinese values.

The survey also found a high degree of trust in the police, with more than 90 per cent saying they did a 'very good job or a fairly good job'.

'The level of trust means people choose to report crimes when they happen,' Dr Broadhurst said.

The fact Hong Kong was also largely a wealthy, homogenous Chinese city without many minority groups also contributed to keeping crime low, along with the fact it was ageing rapidly.

The young were more likely to get into trouble, he said.

But more had to be done to warn people from the city that life wasn't so peaceful elsewhere, especially on the mainland.

'There needs to be more work in developing crime-prevention strategies for when Hong Kong people travel abroad,' Dr Broadhurst said.

Many of the people interviewed for the survey were unaware of the services available to those who had been the victims of crime, the professor said.

Many were also not aware that they could seek financial compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, while more had to be done to encourage some victims to report crimes to the police.

A government spokesman said the government was pleased with the results of the survey, which proved Hong Kong was one of the safest, if not the safest, place to be on the planet.

'We have worked long and hard to achieve this reputation and it's a tribute to the men and women of the disciplined services,' the spokesman said.



It's true: HK is one of safest cities in the world