SPF: Overall crime in Singapore decreased by 2.6 percent

Singapore Police Force has announced that overall crime decreased by 2.6 percent, from 33,839 cases in 2015 to 32,964 cases in 2016.
It said that this was largely due to a decrease in four of the six crime classes, namely Violent/Serious Property Crimes, Housebreaking and Related Crimes, Theft and Related Crimes and Commercial Crimes.

SPF noted that among these crime classes, the following trends are noteworthy:
a. Violent/Serious Property Crimes registered a 30-year low
Violent/Serious Property Crimes fell 17.1 percent, from 299 cases in 2015 to 248 cases in 2016. In particular, Robbery declined 24.4 percent, from 123 cases in 2015 to 93 cases in 2016.
b. Housebreaking and Related Crimes registered a 30-year low
Housebreaking and Related Crimes decreased by 16.2 percent, from 340 cases in 2015 to 285 cases in 2016. In particular, Housebreaking fell 17.6 percent, from 250 cases in 2015 to 206 cases in 2016.
c. Theft and Related Crimes registered a 30-year low
Theft and Related Crimes decreased by 9.5 percent, from 15,615 cases in 2015 to 14,127 cases in 2016. In particular, Theft in Dwelling fell 10.7 percent, from 3,528 cases in 2015 to 3,151 cases in 2016.
The Police stressed that the network of Police cameras has been helpful in fighting crime.
To date, Police cameras have been installed in 10,000 Housing & Development Board (HDB) blocks and multi-storey car parks (MSCPs) under the PolCam 1.0 roll-out plan which started in April 2012.
The Police then add that it will continue to install Police cameras at new Build-To-Order HDB blocks and MSCPs.
Under PolCam 2.0, the Police said that it will expand its network of cameras to further enhance the safety and security of our neighbourhoods and public spaces. PolCam 2.0 will cover the installation of cameras at town centres, neighbourhood centres, hawker centres and link-ways leading to transportation nodes such as MRT stations and bus interchanges.
The first cameras under PolCam 2.0 were installed in June 2016 at Ang Mo Kio Town Centre, Bedok Town Centre and Jurong Gateway.
“Police cameras will be progressively installed over the next few years at 2,500 locations islandwide,” it added.
As of 2016, the Police stated that about 3,400 video footages from such cameras helped the Police solve more than 1,600 cases, including unlicensed moneylending, theft and outrage of modesty cases.
The Police then said that Commercial Crimes decreased by 0.6 percent, from 8,426 cases in 2015 to 8,379 cases in 2016.
However, within this crime class, the following types of scams – Cheating involving E-Commerce, Internet Love Scam, and China Officials Impersonation – remain a significant concern.

While, for Credit-for-Sex scam cases, the Police said that the cases decreased by 33.8 percent, from 1,177 cases in 2015 to 779 cases in 2016. The total sum cheated fell from around $3 million in 2015 to around $1.7 million in 2016.
For Unlicensed Money Lending (UML), the Police said that UML-related harassment cases registered a 10-year low in 2016, decreasing by 20.4 percent, from 4,242 cases in 2015 to 3,375 cases in 2016.
As for theft cases involving motor vehicles, namely Motor Vehicle Theft, Theft of Motor Vehicle Component Parts and Theft from Motor Vehicles, the Police noted that the statistic fell 27.8 percent, from 1,533 cases in 2015 to 1,107 cases in 2016.
“This could be partly attributed to the increase in popularity of in-vehicle cameras and the Vehicle On Watch (VOW) project,” it added.
The Police said that in 2016, there were 135 days free from snatch theft, housebreaking and robbery.

The Police stressed that the community plays a vital role in the fight against crime, noting that since the launch of i-Witness in April 2016, the Police have received about 6,400 submissions from the public via this platform.
The Police said that members of the public can augment the Police’s investigations into crimes by providing the Police with crucial information (in the form of text and multimedia files) via i-Witness in the Police@SG mobile application or on the SPF website.