Police and the Social Welfare Department will work closer together to tackle rising domestic violence.

This was the message today from Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee who expressed concern over domestic violence involving crimes like assault and criminal intimidation. Cases rose more than 30% in the first nine months of this year, to more than 1,200.

Speaking after today's Fight Crime Committee meeting, Mr Lee said the number of domestic violence cases has shot up in the last three years, and the Government will work to curb it.

"Domestic violence is like any violent crime, I don't think we can say that there is one single solution. I don't think in any civilised community they can say that there will be no domestic crime. All we can do is raise the alertness of our officers and to educate the community not to resort to violence to solve problems," he said.

Crime creeps up

There were 67,331 crime cases in the first 10 months this year, up 4.4% on the same period last year. The rise mainly involved theft, deception, wounding and criminal intimidation.

Noting the number of bank robberies rose sharply from 12 to 23, Mr Lee said that of these, 17 were reported in the first quarter.

"Many involved only one robber who threatened to use violence against the teller and then asked for money. In the majority of these cases, the teller was vigilant and pressed the alarm, [and] the robber then fled.

"Since the first quarter, Police have stepped up liaison with banks, and we have also stepped up patrols at banks. The number of such cases [has] dropped dramatically [recently]."