Crime in Hong Kong is present in various forms. The most common crimes are

theft Theft (, cognate to ) 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 shor ...

assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...

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 t ...

, burglaries, drug offenses,

sex trafficking Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Perpetrators of the crime are called sex traffickers or pimps—people who manipulate victims to engage in various forms of commercial sex with paying customers. Se ...

, and triad-related crimes. Police cars on Chater Road on 2014-10-13

Statistics

In the year 2018, crime dropped to a 39-year low for Hong Kong. There were 8,884 reported incidents of violent crimes in Hong Kong at that time. In 2018, Hong Kong had 48 homicides, 4,593 incidents of wounding and serious assaults, 147 robberies, 1,575 burglaries, and 63 rapes. After 2018, crime rate are increasing every year (as of 2023). 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). 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 Hong Kong Disciplined Services, disciplined service under the Security Bureau (Hong Kong), Security Bureau of Hong Kong. Pursuant to the one c ...

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

Organised crime

Crimes committed by triads occur in Hong Kong. Common triad-related offenses include

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

, illegal gambling,

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...

, and

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

. One of the world's largest triads, Sun Yee On, 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 (, ) is a Triad (organized crime), 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 Y ...

, was formed in

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

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.

Human trafficking

Hong Kong is a known transit city for

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

; victims are often coerced into

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

or sexual exploitation.

Sex trafficking

Domestic and transnational criminal organizations carry out sex trafficking in Hong Kong. Victims of forced prostitution are often assaulted in brothels, homes, and businesses in the city. Many mainland Chinese prostitutes in Hong Kong are victims of sexual trafficking. 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.

Knife attacks

Knife crimes and attacks are an issue in Hong Kong. In 2022, local

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

such as Channel C coined the term "", which can be translated literally as "international knife metropolis", to describe a spike in knife attacks in the city.

Fraud

In 2022, fraud cases rose 45 percent compared to the previous year. The first five months of 2023 saw an almost 60 percent increase in fraud cases. There have been reports of human traffickers forcing Hongkongers to work in overseas fraud factories. Victims are often forced to commit cyber scams, and are at risk of violent retaliation from their traffickers if they fail to perform.

References

{{Hong Kong topics