Crime is on the rise and detection rates have slumped, prompting police to call for greater public co-operation.
While certain serious crimes showed a slight decrease, the force's Director of Crime and Security, Lau Chun-sing, said so-called 'quick cash' crimes such as pickpocketing, blackmail and criminal intimidation - fuelled by the economic downturn - could continue to increase in the coming months.
In the first seven months of the year, criminal intimidation was up 66 per cent on the same period last year, pickpocketing was up 24 per cent, snatching was up 19 per cent and miscellaneous thefts were up 13.5 per cent.
Assaults and woundings were up 8.1 per cent.
Computer crime has soared from just 25 reported cases in 1997 to 149 so far this year, leading to a force-wide initiative to tackle the problem.
The overall crime rate for the first seven months of the year is up 9.2 per cent on the same period last year and detection rates have slumped by 10.6 per cent over the same period.
Despite the figures, Mr Lau insisted the SAR remained one of the world's safest places.
