The 'crime drop' refers to the substantial reductions in crime reported in many industrialised countries over at least the past quarter century. Asian countries are underrepresented in the crime drop literature. Little is therefore known about whether the same type and levels of crime reductions have been observed, and if prevailing explanations hold. In this study, we examine trends in burglary and car crime using police recorded crime data from Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan. We show that Japan and Taiwan experienced crime drops similar to that reported elsewhere but occurring more recently in the early 2000s. Hong Kong appears anomalous, with a major crime decline emerging from the early 1980s. The study concludes that there is sufficient evidence to justify further research and sets out suggestions to that end.

Extensive evidence shows that repeat victimization is common and widespread, but studies on the prevalence of repeat victimization in Asia are limited. This study examines the extent and patterns of repeat and near-repeat burglary victimization in Taiwan using both 2015 Taiwan Area Victimization Survey data and police recorded burglary data. Results indicated that: (1) burglaries against the same household in Taiwan are highly concentrated (with the top 10% most burgled households making up around 30% of reported victimizations), more so than is often found in many Western countries; (2) the risk of (repeat) burglary is not consistently spread over space and time, particularly within the 100-m range of an initial burglary incident; and (3) the levels of near repeat burglaries identified in this study are notably lower than was observed in prior studies both in China and in many western countries. The findings highlight the value of developing prevention strategies specifically targeting repeat burglary victimization.

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