The number of crimes rose 0.4 percent to over 53,000 cases in the first eight months of 2007, Commissioner of Police Tang King-shing said yesterday.

Violent crimes increased by 2.4 percent, with rape and criminal intimidation offences on the rise, he said after attending the Eastern District Fight Crime Committee meeting.

On district basis, over 3,100 crimes occurred in Eastern District, increasing by 4 percent as compared to the same period last year, with growing number of deception and shoplifting cases.

The crime rate has been stable over the past eight months, he noted, and police would combat crimes by flexibly allocating their resources in line with the situation in different districts.

(HK Edition 09/26/2007 page6)