Crime in Hong Kong is generally low but is still present in various forms. The most common crimes are

theft Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for som ...

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in cr ...

vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The ter ...

, burglaries, drug offenses,

sex trafficking Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. It has been called a form of modern slavery because of the way victims are forced into sexual acts non-consensually, in a form of sexual slavery. Perpetrators of the ...

, and

triad Triad or triade may refer to: * a group of three Businesses and organisations * Triad (American fraternities), certain historic groupings of seminal college fraternities in North America * Triad (organized crime), a Chinese transnational orga ...

-related crimes. In 2015,

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

had one of the lowest murder rates in the world, comparable to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

but higher than

Macao Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a po ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

Police cars on Chater Road on 2014-10-13

Statistics

In the year 2015, crime dropped to a 36-year low for Hong Kong. There were 10,889 reported incidents of violent crimes in Hong Kong. Hong Kong had 22 homicides, 5,360 incidents of wounding and serious assaults, 223 robberies, 2,579 burglaries, and 70 rapes. In the 2000s, the number and rate of murders were the highest in 2002. 2011 had the lowest rate and number of murders, at 17 (0.2 murders per 100,000 people; lowest in the world). The homicide rate increased 129.6% in 2013 from 2012 though this was due to the inclusion of 39 deaths from the Lamma Island ferry collision. The most common forms of crime in Hong Kong are non-violent crimes. There were 27,512 reports of theft in Hong Kong in 2015. The most common forms of theft were miscellaneous thefts, shoplifting, pick-pocketing, and vehicle theft.Crime Statistics Comparison

Hong Kong Police Force The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest disciplined service under the Security Bureau of Hong Kong. The Royal Hong Kong Police Force (RHKPF) reverted to its former name after the t ...

Criminal damage Property damage (or cf. criminal damage in England and Wales) is damage or destruction of real or tangible personal property, caused by negligence, willful destruction, or act of nature. It is similar to vandalism and arson (destroying proper ...

is also a common crime in Hong Kong, with 5,920 reports in 2015.

Organised crime

Crimes committed by

s occur in Hong Kong. Common triad-related offenses include

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

, illegal gambling,

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalati ...

, and

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and ...

. One of the world's largest triads,

Sun Yee On Sun Yee On ( zh, t=新義安), or the New Righteousness and Peace Commercial and Industrial Guild, is one of the leading triads in Hong Kong and China. It has more than 25,000 members worldwide. It is also believed to be active in the UK, the ...

, was founded in Hong Kong in 1919 and is reported to have 55,000 members worldwide. Sun Yee On's rival organisation,

14K Triad The 14K (十四K) is a triad group based in Hong Kong but active internationally. It is the second largest triad group in the world with around 20,000 members split into thirty subgroups. They are the main rival of the Sun Yee On, which is the ...

, was formed in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

in 1945, and relocated to Hong Kong in 1949. According to British criminal Colin Blaney in his autobiography ''Undesirables'', British organised crime groups known as the Wide Awake Firm and the Inter City Jibbers that specialise in jewelry thefts and picking pockets have also been known to operate in Hong Kong. Domestic and transnational criminal organizations carry out

sex trafficking in China Sex trafficking in China is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the People's Republic of China. China, the world's most populous country, has the second highest number of human trafficking victims in ...

, including Hong Kong. Many mainland Chinese prostitutes in Hong Kong are reportedly sexually trafficked victims.

Sex trafficking

Sex trafficking in Hong Kong Sex trafficking in Hong Kong is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a city of origin, destination, and transit for sexually trafficked persons. Sex trafficking victims in t ...

is an issue. Hongkonger and foreign women and girls are forced into prostitution in brothels, homes, and businesses in the city. There is no comprehensive anti-human trafficking law in Hong Kong.

Racism

There have been reports of systematic racism in Hong Kong against non-Chinese or "dark-skinned" citizens.

References

{{Crime in Asia

Statistics

Organised crime

Sex trafficking

Racism

See also

References