NCJ Number
178136
Journal
International Journal of Risk, Security and Crime Prevention Volume: 1 Issue: 2 Dated: April 1996 Pages: 103-117
Date Published
April 1996
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This article examines an upsurge of armed robberies that occurred in Hong Kong from 1990 to 1992.
Abstract
The Hong Kong police responded to the upsurge in a variety of ways, including increasing police presence in areas with concentrations of gold shops and advising shop owners on security. The measures were effective to some extent against “military-style” robberies, which had generated the most public concern, but they had little impact on other forms of armed robbery. Explanation for the rise in robberies must take account of the following: (1) common targets were building societies, convenience stores, gasoline stations and cash in transit; (2) availability of guns in Hong Kong increased throughout the 1980s; (3) crime rates in China had been rising, especially in the southern provinces, and some of the Hong Kong robberies may have involved mainlanders; and (4) a large proportion of the robbers were amateurs who turned to robbery because they had become economically marginalized by the transfer of low-skilled jobs into adjacent areas of China. Tables