Safe city: Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee says the crime situation is stable.

The number of crimes dropped by as much as 6% for the first eight months of this year, Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee says.

Speaking to the media after the Fight Crime Committee meeting today, Mr Lee said the types of crimes that have registered a drop included robberies, burglary, serious drug offences and murder.

Crime figures relating to juveniles and young people also recorded a double-digit decrease for the first eight months of this year. And, as far as Mainlanders are concerned, a minor decrease was seen in the number of cases despite the fact that the number of tourists is on the rise.

However, there were increases in some sectors like criminal intimidation and assaults, he said.

Most criminal intimidation cases 'personal'

He said although the number of cases was increasing, the majority of these cases were related to some personal conflict.

The statistics indicated that more than 50% of these criminal intimidation cases related to personal quarrels or arguments. Less than 10% of these criminal intimidation cases actually related to triad activities, he added.