The city has, in the first quarter of this year, recorded 12% fewer crimes than the same period last year, the Secretariat for Security announced yesterday.
In the quarterly report on crime count and nature, Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak, disclosed that the police forces of the city commenced investigation into 2,565 crimes in the first quarter of the year, 349 crimes fewer than the same period last year.
However, the Secretary noted, the development of the gambling sector is closely linked to the city’s social security. The Covid-19 pandemic, which has lasted for more than two years, has had a great impact on Macau’s gambling and tourism sectors and has led to a significant decrease in gaming revenues.
Wong highlighted that, although re-licensing the current gambling concessions and the legislation concerning gambling intermediary operations are within the authority of the economy and finance section of the government, the security section has also turned its attention to the matter.
Justifying the section’s concerns, Wong remarked that the gambling industry is a pillar of the local economy. The collection of issues arising from its development will “definitely” make an impact on the industry, which may also lead to unsettled public security and social stability.
Therefore, “the security section of the government has consistently been highly vigilant and concerned with the varieties of unstable elements brought forward by the development of the gambling industry,” Wong wrote in a statement.
The security section of the government has put all crimes into five categories:, offence against persons; offence against assets; offence against social life; offence against the territory; and unclassified types.
Among them, offence against the territory saw the greatest rate of decrease, equating to 28.5%. Unclassified types of offences saw nearly 25% drop in numbers of crime, which was the second steepest drop. A nearly 21% drop was recorded for offences against social life.
A worrying situation is that the city saw an 80% rise in sexual offences against children in the first quarter. In contrast, the crime of rape recorded a 12.5% drop. Despite the difference in the incremental rate, both crimes saw nearly 10 cases in the first quarter, with nine of the former type and seven of the latter.
On the other hand, a 300% rise was recorded for the offence of having sexual intercourse with minors, with a total of four cases.
However, the city saw the counts of kidnapping fall from nine to a single instance. Although Wong did not elaborate on the reason for the drop, it may have been caused by the shrink in scale of gambling activities, logically leading to fewer illicit loans.
Also worrying is the number of suicides and attempted suicides, with 28 of the former and 50 of the latter. Psychologists, social workers, counselors and educators have separately voiced their concerns over the matter.
During the first quarter 30 sham marriages and 24 cases of sham employment were recorded. In addition, during the period, 3,963 people overstayed, a year-on-year increase of 624 cases, or 18%, and 167 crimes related to illegal accommodation or illegal stay were recorded, an increase of 27.5%.
Further, the Secretary for Security stated that the government is actively communicating with the embassies and consulates of various countries to assist in the repatriation of people stranded in Macau and extend the period of stay of those who cannot return to their places of origin as appropriate.
