Posted: 14 August 2012 1535 hrs
SINGAPORE:
Singapore's overall crime rate in the first six months of the year fell
by 2.3 per cent, compared to the same period last year.
Figures
released by the Singapore police on Tuesday showed that there were
15,576 cases from January to June in 2012, compared to 15,944 in the
same period last year.
Theft and theft-related crimes were the
only offences which went up, increasing by 3.3 per cent, mainly due to a
rise in cases of theft of bicycles and theft-in-dwelling.
Improvements were seen in the area of unlicensed moneylending, one of the areas of concern the police had highlighted in 2011.
The
number of such cases fell more than 21.3 per cent, with 5,228 cases
reported in the first half of the year, compared to 6,642 cases last
year.
There was a 21.8 per cent increase in the number of people
arrested for unlicensed moneylending activity because of continued
enforcement efforts. 848 persons were arrested in the first half of 2011
compared to 1,033 arrested in first half of 2012.
Police
expressed continuing concern over a 15 per cent jump in youths arrested
for loanshark-related activities, from 95 youths arrested in the first
half of last year to 109 youths arrested over the same period this year.
Slightly
more than half of those arrested, a total of 57 youths, were recruited
by loansharks to commit acts of harassment. The remainder had assisted
loanshark syndicates by providing bank accounts to facilitate unlicensed
moneylending activities and distributing flyers to advertise on behalf
of loansharks.
Another area which saw improvement was phone scams in cases where money was cheated.
The
number of cases fell from 116 cases reported in the first half of 2011
to 98 cases over the same period this year. The amount of money involved
also decreased from S$3 million in the first half of 2011 to S$2.37
million for the same period this year.
Although the situation involving phone scams improved, the amount of money cheated remains significant.
- CNA/wm
crime rate falls. Possible?
not sure if crime rate really fell
or people never report to police
i suspect someone peep at me in hiotel run during our photoshoots.
Low crime doesn't mean no crime