Updated: 08/23/2013 11:51 | By Channel NewsAsia
Crime cases fell in 1st half of 2013
SINGAPORE: Police say the overall crime cases reported in the first six months of this year fell by 6.3 per cent to 14,562 cases.
There were 15,539 cases in the same period last year.
According to figures in a news release on Friday, the biggest fall was in housebreaking and related crimes, which decreased by 24.3 per cent from 333 cases to 252.
Commercial crimes, which include mainly cheating such as lottery scams, saw the next biggest fall at 14.3 per cent, from 1,841 cases to 1,577.
Also on the down trend were theft and related crimes, which went down by 6.8 per cent from 9,257 cases to 8,623.
Miscellaneous crimes, which comprise offences such as vandalism, trespassing and disorderly behaviour, went down by 4.8 per cent.
The number of such cases slid from 2,097 in the first six months of last year to 1,996 in the first half of this year.
Police also reported improvements in unlicensed moneylending and phone scams, which were concerns highlighted for 2012.
There was a decline of 483 unlicensed moneylending and harassment cases, from 5,091 cases in the first half of last year to 4,608 cases in the first six months this year.
Police say while fewer cases of loansharking and harassment were reported, more people were arrested for the offence because of sustained enforcement action.
An increase of 101 people was arrested for the offence, up from 1,016 in the first half of last year to 1,117 in the first six months this year.
Phone scams fell by 55 per cent from 88 cases to 40.
Likewise, the total amount of money cheated in phone scam decreased by 44 per cent from S$2.4 million to S$1.35 million.
Bucking the trend were crimes against persons, which went up by 5.3 per cent from 1,821 to 1,917.
These were crimes where the victim was physically harmed.
Violent property crimes went up by 3.7 per cent from 190 to 197. This was mainly due to the increase in cyber-extortion, which is classified under the category.
There was an increase of 10 cases of cyber-extortion in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year.
Police say cyber-extortion usually involve female suspects who try to extort money from their male victims, threatening to post compromising photos or videos of the victims, following an online cyber-sex session over a web camera.
Police say in most cases, the female suspects are believed to be based overseas.
Police advise the public to be cautious when interacting online, and to avoid putting themselves in a vulnerable position by performing compromising acts in front of a webcam.
- CNA/fa
