S'pore sees lowest crime rate in 29 years

But two worrying trends last year: more molestation cases, bicycle thefts

By Tham Yuen-c And Lim Yan Liang, The Straits Times, 7 Feb 2013

SINGAPORE enjoyed its lowest crime rate in almost three decades last year, the Singapore Police Force announced yesterday.
But it also flagged two worrying trends: an increase in molestation cases, particularly onboard buses and trains, and bicycle thefts.

In all, the police handled 30,868 cases last year, about 2 per cent fewer than the previous year.

Taking into account population numbers, that translated to a crime rate of 581 cases per 100,000 people last year - the lowest in 29 years.

Still, the figures also showed that more women fell victim to molesters in crowded areas.

Incidents that happened on buses and trains went up by 34 per cent and made up one in 10 of all molestation cases last year.

"Should you be an unfortunate victim of outrage of modesty, don't stay silent," Superintendent Raymond Chong, the police's assistant director for community involvement, said yesterday. He added that uniformed presence has been stepped up at places identified as areas of concern.

"You need to attract as much attention as possible to get the members of the public around you to detain the perpetrator and call for police."

Bicycle thieves also had a busy year, having struck 1,216 times last year, compared to 1,137 in 2011.

This resulted in an increase in theft and related crimes, one of the six categories used as a barometer of crime here.

The other five categories, covering a gamut of crimes from burglary to robbery, cheating, murder, rape, vandalism and trespassing, all registered falls.

In particular, housebreaking and related crimes fell 16 per cent, and violent property crimes such as robbery fell 12 per cent. Both categories are at their 20-year lows.

The improved numbers come after the police increased patrols both on bicycles and on foot under the Community Policing System (Cops).

Unlicensed moneylending and youth crimes also declined after these were highlighted as problem areas in 2011 and more resources were poured into combating them.

Loan-shark harassment cases fell by a quarter last year, with many loan-shark runners caught by CCTV camera networks, which were rolled out in housing estates under Cops.

The director of the Public Affairs Department, Assistant Commissioner of Police (AC) Ng Guat Ting, also credited the strong community support and public vigilance for the improvement.

"Without the community, we wouldn't have been able to achieve this," said AC Ng. "I think we have strong support from them; they are actually our eyes and ears."

Mr Hri Kumar Nair, who heads the Government Parliamentary Committees for Home Affairs and Law, said this was a clear sign that the CCTV cameras were an effective crime prevention tool.

"It's to do with the heightened awareness: criminals know it won't be so easy to commit crimes and get away with it."

Measures like these helped the police to solve roughly half of the cases they investigated, said Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director Hoong Wee Teck.

"If you compare us with other major cities like Tokyo or Hong Kong, I think we are above them when it comes to clearance rate," said Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Hoong.

For serious crimes here such as murder, the clearance rate is 100 per cent, he added.