Housebreaking, violent property crimes and murder at 20-year-lows
AsiaOne
Wednesday, Feb 06, 2013
SINGAPORE - Criminal activity registered in 2012 fell by 2 per cent compared to the previous year, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said today.
The drop of 640 cases brought the total number of crimes to 30,868.
Housebreaking and violent property crimes both registered 20-year-lows last year. Housebreaking and related crimes dipped from 706 cases in 2011 to 596 cases in 2012. The number of violent property crimes, or crimes which involve the taking of money or property by force or threat of force, fell by 12 per cent to 391 cases in 2012.
Of the housebreaking arrests made in 2012, 25 serial housebreakers were found responsible for at least 300 cases. Singapore also experienced 175 robbery-free days last year.
Violent property crimes also registered a 20 year low, falling by 52 cases (-12 per cent) from 443 cases in 2011 to 391 cases in 2012. In particular, the number of robbery cases saw a significant drop of 27 per cent from 394 cases in 2011 to 286 cases for 2012. There were 175 days without robbery cases in 2012.
The number of commercial crimes also fell last year, dropping by 397 cases from the previous year.
There were also fewer credit and debit card fraud cases in 2012. The total number of cases in this category fell by 37 per cent, owing largely to police efforts.
Of the cases registered, 5 of the suspects were arrested for involvement in over a hundred cases of cheating involving payment cards stolen from the mail system. Four of the suspects in this case have been given jail sentences.
To crackdown on credit and debit card fraud, the police had worked closely with banks and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to enhance the security of payment card systems through enhanced card activation procedures, SPF said in a statement.
Also registering a 20-year-low was the number of murder cases, which fell from a total of 16 to 11.
There was only a slight drop of 1 per cent in the miscellaneous crimes category, while theft and related crimes also rose by 1 per cent.
Total number of bicycle thefts increased from 1,137 cases in 2011 to 1,216 cases in 2012, although most of this increase is attributed to the first half of the year. The slowdown in the second half of the year is attributed to joined efforts by SPF, town councils and various community organisations.
The number of snatch thefts fell by 63 cases to 286 cases in 2012. Singapore experienced a total of 80 days without reported cases of robberies and snatch thefts.
The SPF also said that efforts in fighting unlicensed moneylending (UML) activities are also paying off. The number of harassment cases fell significantly by 2,788 cases to 8,988 cases in 2012.
A total of 1,903 people were arrested in relation to harassment caused by UML activities.
The total number of youth crimes also dipped from 3,477 arrests to 3,320 arrests in 2012.
Key crime concerns
Phone lucky draw scams have been highlighted as a key crime concern as the amount of money involved in 2012 was as high as $7.4 million.
On the other hand, kidnap phone scams fell by close to 50 per cent to 23 cases in 2012.
There was a slight increase of 1 per cent in the number of cases involving outrage of modesty. Nevertheless, more of these cases were reported in buses and trains, with an increase of 39 cases to 153 cases in 2012.
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