Police to crack down on crime as Hong Kong braces for influx of 600,000 mainland Chinese tourists for ‘golden week’ break
- Police insider says high-profile policing ‘deterrent’ to thieves and that undercover officers will also patrol crime hotspots
- Top shopping districts, tourist hotspots and transport hubs among areas to be targeted by police
Police in Hong Kong are to swamp major shopping districts and other areas popular with tourists in a crackdown on crime designed to coincide with the Labour Day “golden week” holiday and an expected influx of 600,000 mainland Chinese visitors, the Post has learned.
A police insider explained that the “high-profile police presence would pose a deterrent effect” to crooks over the holiday period, which starts on Saturday.
He also revealed that undercover officers would also be deployed on surveillance duty to monitor thieves and pickpockets who looked for targets at railway stations, shopping malls, restaurants and hotels.
The move came against the backdrop of a 37 per cent increase in crimes of theft in the first two months of the year compared with the same period in 2022.
There were 3,341 reports over the period, compared with 2,442 cases logged in the same time frame last year.
Police statistics showed the number of pickpocketing incidents had increased by 96 per cent to 51 from 26 over the same period.