- Joined
- Aug 14, 2009
- Messages
- 3,634
- Points
- 0
THE overall crime situation in Singapore remained under control last year, with the number of reported cases falling to 32,968 - down by 0.4 per cent from 2008, said police in its annual update on Monday.
Four of the six crime classes all fell, especially for violent property crimes which dropped by 22.1 per cent and miscellaneous crimes, by 11.3 per cent. Notably, the overall crime rate also fell to 661 cases from 684 in 2008 per 100,000 population.
Crimes against persons fell from to 4,370 cases from 4,393 in 2008. The drop was due to fewer murder and rioting cases - from 25 to 19, and from 358 to 283 respectively.
Commercial Crimes, comprising mainly cheating, also declined to 3,357 cases from 3,488 the previous year, due to police efforts in raising public awareness against various types of cheating scams, supported by banks and financial institutions.
The number of phone scam cases also dipped but cheating scam targeting elderly victims remains a concern, as it went up by 8.2 per cent - from 134 persons in 2008 to 145 persons last year.
Two classes of crimes went up. Housebreaking and related crimes rose to 1,026 cases in 2009 from a record low of 898 cases a year ago. The rise in cases is largely attributed to break-ins of HDB flats, where many units were secured with poor quality locks that could be easily cut opened and at education/care centres, where some were not secured with security alarm systems. In all, 25 serial offenders responsible for at least 261 cases of housebreaking were caught.
Theft and related Crimes also rose to 20,402 cases from 19,918 cases in 2008. The main sub-categories which saw increases were bicycle theft, shop theft and theft in public areas.
Four of the six crime classes all fell, especially for violent property crimes which dropped by 22.1 per cent and miscellaneous crimes, by 11.3 per cent. Notably, the overall crime rate also fell to 661 cases from 684 in 2008 per 100,000 population.
Crimes against persons fell from to 4,370 cases from 4,393 in 2008. The drop was due to fewer murder and rioting cases - from 25 to 19, and from 358 to 283 respectively.
Commercial Crimes, comprising mainly cheating, also declined to 3,357 cases from 3,488 the previous year, due to police efforts in raising public awareness against various types of cheating scams, supported by banks and financial institutions.
The number of phone scam cases also dipped but cheating scam targeting elderly victims remains a concern, as it went up by 8.2 per cent - from 134 persons in 2008 to 145 persons last year.
Two classes of crimes went up. Housebreaking and related crimes rose to 1,026 cases in 2009 from a record low of 898 cases a year ago. The rise in cases is largely attributed to break-ins of HDB flats, where many units were secured with poor quality locks that could be easily cut opened and at education/care centres, where some were not secured with security alarm systems. In all, 25 serial offenders responsible for at least 261 cases of housebreaking were caught.
Theft and related Crimes also rose to 20,402 cases from 19,918 cases in 2008. The main sub-categories which saw increases were bicycle theft, shop theft and theft in public areas.
