Robberies, burglaries on rise amid HK unrest

Criminals in Hong Kong－especially robbers and burglars－have been profiting from the violent social unrest that erupted in June, taking advantage of stretched police resources and other law enforcement difficulties and a weakened willingness to abide by the law.

The past six months have seen an increasing number of burglaries and armed robberies, Kwok Ka-chuen, chief superintendent of the Police Public Relations Branch, said at a media briefing on Monday.

In a period of less than 24 hours on Sunday and Monday, there were three robberies in the city.

On Sunday evening, three masked robbers looted a watch shop in Causeway Bay and threatened staff members. Twelve watches worth a combined HK$600,000 ($77,050) were taken.

On Monday morning, a 23-year-old businessman was attacked in Yau Ma Tei by two men with wooden clubs before being robbed of his bag containing HK$200,000 in cash. Witnesses said he had withdrawn the money minutes before.

Less than two hours later, six masked robbers stormed a jewelry shop in the same district, smashing glass cabinets and grabbing gold ornaments worth more than HK$1 million.

In addition, the Christmas holiday was marred by the disruptive and violent acts of black-clad, masked radicals.

From Christmas Eve on Tuesday to Boxing Day on Thursday, crowds of radicals gathered at the city's major shopping malls in Causeway Bay, Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui. They chanted anti-government slogans and trashed shops and restaurants. Many shops were forced to close early.

Some rioters even charged the police lines and assaulted police officers during the illegal assemblies.

During an inspection in Tsim Sha Tsui district on Christmas Eve, Hong Kong Police Commissioner Chris Tang Ping-keung said overall crime in November had increased 4.2 percent year-on-year, with burglaries up 40 percent and robberies 30 percent.

In a signed article published in local newspapers, Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu said Hong Kong's public safety situation is getting increasingly worse. On average there was one robbery every day in October, according to Lee. Usually, that is the average number for every two or three days.

Police said that although the motive for committing these crimes varies from case to case, the surge in crimes is related to the recent social unrest.

Police public relations chief Kwok said that due to the behavior of rioters, the willingness to abide by the law has continuously declined in the whole of society, and some people might be taking advantage of the strained police resources to commit crimes.

Amid the worsening situation, calls have increased for a halt to the violence, which would allow police to refocus on fighting other crimes.

Lawmaker Elizabeth Quat Puifan said pro-establishment political parties are also among the victims of surging burglaries and robberies, as rioters have broken into their offices to vandalize and take valuables such as computers.

She called for more efforts to restore security cameras vandalized by protesters to better monitor possible offenses.

Another lawmaker, Gary Chan Hak-kan, who is also the chairman of the Legislative Council's Panel on Security, urged the protesters to stop wasting police resources, or overall society will be in peril.

Despite the hardships brought by the unrest, Kwok said the police force will adjust its labor and resources to ensure a timely handling of all kinds of crime.