VietNamNet Bridge - Answering the questions of HCM City People’s Council deputies on December 6, Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Police Agency, Major General Phan Anh Minh said the police planed to call for travel firms to contribute cash to pay reward of VND5 million ($250) for those who catch robbers.

Robbery on the streets of Saigon


Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Police Agency, Major General Phan Anh Minh.


Deputy Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy (District 7) said, according to the report, the number of criminal cases reduced but serious robberies rose in the city. "What solutions are strong enough to suppress crime in the shortest time?" Thuy asked.

Ms. Thuy said that criminals are getting younger and crime is more sophisticated. She asked the police leaders to talk about the program of action and measures to solve the situation.

Voter Tran Viet Trung (Thu Duc District), who was invited to the HCM City People’s Council session, said in November 2012, some brutal robberies were reported while the penalty is less than satisfactory.

"They caused 600 robberies in November, up 5 percent from the previous month and 30% over last year. How are the preventive measures?" he asked.

Deputy Director of the HCM City Police Agency, Major General Phan Anh Minh admitted that in November, crime slightly increased, especially robbery.

"But the biggest concern is the increase of aggressive attitude and cheeky nature of robberies. This is actually not new because in previous cases, the robbers also used weapons. But we are obsessed with the laptop robbery on Cong Hoa Street. The robbers came back to stab his pursuit to death," he said.

He said the police have worked out an anti-crime plan, under which, patrols on road will be strengthened.

The Deputy Director of HCM City Police Agency disagreed with the statement--that because of robbery, foreign tourists are afraid to visit the city.

"Saying that the drop in foreign visitors is because of robbery is unfair for the police. We have not recorded any visitor who said they would leave the city immediately because of the robberies," he added.

He also confirmed that the police are planning to call for tourism firms to contribute to pay reward of VND5 million to anyone who catches robbers. "If education is good, with that reward we will have powerful force to fight crime," Minh said.

Not being satisfied with the answer, deputy Le Truong Hai Hieu said that the goal of the security force is reducing or at least maintaining the number of criminal cases from last year. He said that this is necessary target but it makes a lot of pressure on local police, which urges them to hide crime cases. "Why do not we take the number of criminals being arrested as the goal of emulation?" Hieu said.

Minh admitted: "Recently, I proposed to review the emulation achievements of some policemen in
Ben Nghe Ward for the errors in making statistics of criminal cases."

He said the HCM City Police Agency would be equipped with specialized software system to make full statistics of criminal cases in the city. "So no place can hide. For example, residents of District 8 who go to District 12 to buy drugs will also be recorded," Minh said.

"We agreed with deputy Hai Hieu that the target of catching criminals is a key indicator," he added.

Ta Lam