Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak announced yesterday that between January and September the police recorded 7,329 suspected crimes, a year-on-year decrease of 16.7 percent.
The crime figures were announced in a statement by Wong’s office.
The number of reported computer crimes fell by nearly 70 percent in the first three quarters of this year, but there was an increase in the number of cyber-related fraud cases, up 22.5 percent year-on-year to 462 cases, according to the statement. By the end of September, a total loss of about 2.5 million patacas was recorded in “fake order” fraud cases which targeted 21 catering businesses.
Reported rape cases were down by 36 percent year on year, while cases of child sexual abuse (CSA) rose by 53.3 percent from 15 in the first nine months of last year to 23 cases in the same period of this year.
The figures also showed an increase in the number of fraud victims meeting their predators through chat apps. The number of online nude chat extortion cases increased by more than 30 percent year-on-year to 58 cases, the statement noted.
The police recorded 768 theft cases and 904 unlawful appropriation cases in the nine-month period. A total of 90 extortion cases were recorded in the nine-month period, indicating an increase of 25 percent year-on-year.
According to the statement, violent crimes dropped 43.6 percent year-on-year to 114 in the first three quarters of this year, among which, serious violent crimes such as “kidnapping”, “homicide” and “aggravated assault” continued to have “low or zero incidences”.
The Macau Post Daily reported the case of two female mainlanders’ murders in a Cotai hotel guestroom in May.
The statement said the crime statistics show that the overall public security situation in Macau continued to be stable in the first three quarters, adding that the overall number of crimes continued to decrease, and many types of crimes showed a downward trend.
The statement pointed out that the decrease may be related to intensified police action against various types of crimes, the decline in public activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the drop in the number of tourists. Recently, the statement noted, the central government has announced a number of measures to benefit Macau, such as the resumption of tour groups for mainland tourists, adding that the number of tourists to Macau was likely to rebound.
Therefore, the statement underlined, the Secretariat for Security will continue to assess the impact of the measures by the central government on public security, conduct in-depth research on the changing trends of different kinds of crimes, and adjust the deployment of the police force at an appropriate time, while actively cooperating with the government’s COVID-19 prevention and control measures to protect the safety of people’s lifes and property and ensure the prosperity and stability of Macau’s civil society.
This file photo shows Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak talking to the media after the 69th Macau Grand Prix at the racetrack on November 20. – Photo: Yuki Lei
