SINGAPORE: The number of shoplifting and voyeurism cases rose again last year, according to annual statistics on physical crime released by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) on Monday (Feb 17).
There were 4,237 cases of shop theft last year - a 7.6 per cent increase from the 3,939 cases in 2023. In 2022, there were 3,244 such cases, an increase from 2,652 in 2021.
Shop theft accounted for 21.2 per cent of total physical crime cases in 2024.
The total number of physical crime cases remained largely unchanged over the two years, with 19,969 cases reported in 2024, compared with 19,966 in 2023.
Shop theft was among the top three crimes of concern flagged by the police, along with voyeurism and molestation. Voyeurism cases, in particular, increased by 9 per cent in 2024. The number of molestation cases went down in 2024.
Cases of theft in dwelling, which was among the top crimes in 2023, also fell.
In response to CNA's queries, the police said that housebreaking and theft cases fell - from 135 cases in 2023 to 118 in 2024 - despite a "short spike" due to a spate of such incidents at private residential estates.
A series of burglaries in landed estates between June and August was believed to be linked to foreign syndicates involving Chinese nationals.
Ten cases were reported in private estates around the Rail Corridor and Bukit Timah Road, with stolen jewellery across the cases valued at S$3.85 million (US$2.9 million).
Housebreaking and theft cases accounted for 0.6 per cent of total physical crime cases in 2024, according to the police.
Stepped-up patrols at private residential estates and measures such as strategic deployment of mobile cameras led to a "sharp decrease" in housebreaking and theft cases in the subsequent months, SPF added.
Shop theft remains one of the top offences for youths arrested last year, SPF said on Monday.
In response to queries from CNA, 379 youths - aged between 10 and 19 - were arrested in 2024 for shop theft, making up 20.9 per cent of the total number of arrests for the offence.
The majority of cases involving the arrest of youths were at supermarkets, beauty shops, personal care/health and wellness shops.
Items typically stolen included personal care products, food and beverage products, and cosmetics.
There were again more cases reported at supermarkets as well as personal care/health and wellness shops, SPF noted.
The retail outlets with the top 10 highest number of reported shop theft cases in 2024 were:
The increase in shop theft cases may be a result of more widespread use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) technology by retailers, the police said.
This has improved retailers' ability to detect shop theft, including those that might have gone unnoticed at the time of the incident.
SPF added that it has also been using the improved detection capabilities of retailers, such as facial recognition, to identify and track down shop theft offenders.
"Such technology has allowed retailers to better detect repeat offenders at their outlets and assist SPF in apprehending them," they added.
"This enhanced ability is a significant deterrent; even if the offenders manage to evade immediate detection, they will still face consequences for their actions."
The police also said they have been "actively engaging" youths to raise awareness of the consequences of shop theft.
This includes working closely with the Ministry of Education to implement various initiatives, such as conducting school talks at least once a year.
There are also targeted youth engagement programmes to reinforce crime prevention messages.
Other efforts to engage with the community, apart from youths, include the Coffee with a Cop initiative, house visits and crime prevention talks.
Meanwhile, more than 1,000 retail outlets have come on board the police’s Shop Theft Awareness for Retailers (STAR) programme as of Dec 31, 2024.
FairPrice Group, one of Singapore’s major supermarket chains, joined STAR in November 2024, said SPF.
It has also expanded its collaboration with cosmetic chain Sephora, Popular and Mustafa Centre in Little India to fully onboard all their retail outlets islandwide to the programme.
"This expansion demonstrates the growing commitment among retailers to participate in collaborative efforts to address shop theft and strengthen their retail security measures," SPF added.
Under the programme, SPF works closely with retailers to analyse their stores' risk factors and vulnerabilities to shop theft, as well as jointly identify effective and practical crime prevention measures which can be adopted at the different stores.
For instance, retailers such as bookstore chain Popular have put in place enhanced in-store security measures and surveillance signage for stronger deterrence and detection abilities.
The number of voyeurism cases - which include upskirt offences - increased by 43 to 519 cases in 2024, compared to 476 in 2023. They accounted for 2.6 per cent of physical crime cases last year.
Voyeurism cases in 2024 were typically committed at residential premises (162 cases), shopping complexes (80 cases) and on public transport (69 cases).
Most cases at residential premises - 76.5 per cent - were committed by perpetrators known to the victims such as current or ex-boyfriends, household members or fellow tenants.
To address these cases at public transport nodes, advisory messages on voyeurism have been put up "prominently" at selected MRT stations, said SPF. All MRT stations also broadcast anti-voyeurism messages during peak hours.
Other initiatives also include "intentional" environmental design, such as installing full-height privacy partitions in between toilet cubicles.
SPF also collaborated with stakeholders such as the Restroom Association of Singapore (RAS) to introduce security design guidelines for public toilets, including strategic placement of CCTV cameras at toilet entrances and enhanced lighting systems.
The police added that they will be working with the RAS to launch a new Safe Toilet Award category at the association's "Let’s Observe Ourselves" Awards this year, which rewards organisations and individuals who have contributed to restroom cleanliness.
The number of outrage of modesty - or molestation - cases decreased by 6.6 per cent or 101 cases from 1,528 in 2023 to 1,427 in 2024.
Despite this, it remains a crime of concern, accounting for 7.1 per cent of the total physical crime cases last year, said SPF.
More than half of the cases involved culprits known to the victims. The top four locations where outrage of modesty offences were typically committed were residential premises, public transport network, shopping complexes and public entertainment outlets.
There was, however, a decrease in the number of cases in public entertainment outlets - 103 in 2024, compared with 135 in 2023. This was also the case on public transport, which saw 158 cases in 2024, a drop from 169 in 2023.
Notwithstanding the decrease in such cases within public entertainment outlets, SPF said it will continue to work closely with stakeholders to raise public awareness.
Some ongoing initiatives include the Safe Clubbing Campaign, where SPF works with those in the public entertainment sector to reduce crime within their outlets.
The fifth iteration of the campaign will be launched later this year, in collaboration with the public entertainment industry safety and security workgroup, and the Singapore Association for Responsible Drinking.
Senior Assistant Commissioner (SAC) Gregory Tan said that the "stable" physical crime rate "would not have been possible" without the strong support from the community and other stakeholders in combating such crimes.
The director of operations at SPF added that potential offenders should be aware that technological advancements have "significantly" bolstered detection capabilities by the various stakeholders, which has also improved the police's ability to solve physical crime.
"With these advancements and further investments in technological tools by SPF, culprits will be caught and taken to task under the law."
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There were 4,237 cases of shop theft last year - a 7.6 per cent increase from the 3,939 cases in 2023. In 2022, there were 3,244 such cases, an increase from 2,652 in 2021.
Shop theft accounted for 21.2 per cent of total physical crime cases in 2024.
The total number of physical crime cases remained largely unchanged over the two years, with 19,969 cases reported in 2024, compared with 19,966 in 2023.
Shop theft was among the top three crimes of concern flagged by the police, along with voyeurism and molestation. Voyeurism cases, in particular, increased by 9 per cent in 2024. The number of molestation cases went down in 2024.
Cases of theft in dwelling, which was among the top crimes in 2023, also fell.
In response to CNA's queries, the police said that housebreaking and theft cases fell - from 135 cases in 2023 to 118 in 2024 - despite a "short spike" due to a spate of such incidents at private residential estates.
A series of burglaries in landed estates between June and August was believed to be linked to foreign syndicates involving Chinese nationals.
Ten cases were reported in private estates around the Rail Corridor and Bukit Timah Road, with stolen jewellery across the cases valued at S$3.85 million (US$2.9 million).
Housebreaking and theft cases accounted for 0.6 per cent of total physical crime cases in 2024, according to the police.
Stepped-up patrols at private residential estates and measures such as strategic deployment of mobile cameras led to a "sharp decrease" in housebreaking and theft cases in the subsequent months, SPF added.
THEFTS AT SUPERMARKETS, BEAUTY SHOPS
Shop theft remains one of the top offences for youths arrested last year, SPF said on Monday.
In response to queries from CNA, 379 youths - aged between 10 and 19 - were arrested in 2024 for shop theft, making up 20.9 per cent of the total number of arrests for the offence.
The majority of cases involving the arrest of youths were at supermarkets, beauty shops, personal care/health and wellness shops.
Items typically stolen included personal care products, food and beverage products, and cosmetics.
There were again more cases reported at supermarkets as well as personal care/health and wellness shops, SPF noted.
The retail outlets with the top 10 highest number of reported shop theft cases in 2024 were:
- NTUC Fairprice at Jurong Point
- Watsons at Suntec City Mall
- Cold Storage at Plaza Singapura
- NTUC Fairprice at at Ang Mo Kio Hub, and Cold Storage at Bugis Junction
- NTUC Fairprice at Thomson Plaza
- Cold Storage at Nex Mall
- Cold Storage at Great World City
- Sheng Shiong at Tanglin Halt Road, Mustafa Centre, and Giant Hypermart at Tampines North Drive 2
- Sheng Shiong at 301 Punggol Central Coralinus
- Watsons at Toa Payoh Central
Related:
The increase in shop theft cases may be a result of more widespread use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) technology by retailers, the police said.
This has improved retailers' ability to detect shop theft, including those that might have gone unnoticed at the time of the incident.
SPF added that it has also been using the improved detection capabilities of retailers, such as facial recognition, to identify and track down shop theft offenders.
"Such technology has allowed retailers to better detect repeat offenders at their outlets and assist SPF in apprehending them," they added.
"This enhanced ability is a significant deterrent; even if the offenders manage to evade immediate detection, they will still face consequences for their actions."
The police also said they have been "actively engaging" youths to raise awareness of the consequences of shop theft.
This includes working closely with the Ministry of Education to implement various initiatives, such as conducting school talks at least once a year.
There are also targeted youth engagement programmes to reinforce crime prevention messages.
Other efforts to engage with the community, apart from youths, include the Coffee with a Cop initiative, house visits and crime prevention talks.
Meanwhile, more than 1,000 retail outlets have come on board the police’s Shop Theft Awareness for Retailers (STAR) programme as of Dec 31, 2024.
FairPrice Group, one of Singapore’s major supermarket chains, joined STAR in November 2024, said SPF.
It has also expanded its collaboration with cosmetic chain Sephora, Popular and Mustafa Centre in Little India to fully onboard all their retail outlets islandwide to the programme.
"This expansion demonstrates the growing commitment among retailers to participate in collaborative efforts to address shop theft and strengthen their retail security measures," SPF added.
Under the programme, SPF works closely with retailers to analyse their stores' risk factors and vulnerabilities to shop theft, as well as jointly identify effective and practical crime prevention measures which can be adopted at the different stores.
For instance, retailers such as bookstore chain Popular have put in place enhanced in-store security measures and surveillance signage for stronger deterrence and detection abilities.
VOYEURISM CASES INCREASE
The number of voyeurism cases - which include upskirt offences - increased by 43 to 519 cases in 2024, compared to 476 in 2023. They accounted for 2.6 per cent of physical crime cases last year.
Voyeurism cases in 2024 were typically committed at residential premises (162 cases), shopping complexes (80 cases) and on public transport (69 cases).
Most cases at residential premises - 76.5 per cent - were committed by perpetrators known to the victims such as current or ex-boyfriends, household members or fellow tenants.
To address these cases at public transport nodes, advisory messages on voyeurism have been put up "prominently" at selected MRT stations, said SPF. All MRT stations also broadcast anti-voyeurism messages during peak hours.
Other initiatives also include "intentional" environmental design, such as installing full-height privacy partitions in between toilet cubicles.
SPF also collaborated with stakeholders such as the Restroom Association of Singapore (RAS) to introduce security design guidelines for public toilets, including strategic placement of CCTV cameras at toilet entrances and enhanced lighting systems.
The police added that they will be working with the RAS to launch a new Safe Toilet Award category at the association's "Let’s Observe Ourselves" Awards this year, which rewards organisations and individuals who have contributed to restroom cleanliness.
Related:
DROP IN MOLESTATION CASES
The number of outrage of modesty - or molestation - cases decreased by 6.6 per cent or 101 cases from 1,528 in 2023 to 1,427 in 2024.
Despite this, it remains a crime of concern, accounting for 7.1 per cent of the total physical crime cases last year, said SPF.
More than half of the cases involved culprits known to the victims. The top four locations where outrage of modesty offences were typically committed were residential premises, public transport network, shopping complexes and public entertainment outlets.
There was, however, a decrease in the number of cases in public entertainment outlets - 103 in 2024, compared with 135 in 2023. This was also the case on public transport, which saw 158 cases in 2024, a drop from 169 in 2023.
Notwithstanding the decrease in such cases within public entertainment outlets, SPF said it will continue to work closely with stakeholders to raise public awareness.
Some ongoing initiatives include the Safe Clubbing Campaign, where SPF works with those in the public entertainment sector to reduce crime within their outlets.
The fifth iteration of the campaign will be launched later this year, in collaboration with the public entertainment industry safety and security workgroup, and the Singapore Association for Responsible Drinking.
Senior Assistant Commissioner (SAC) Gregory Tan said that the "stable" physical crime rate "would not have been possible" without the strong support from the community and other stakeholders in combating such crimes.
The director of operations at SPF added that potential offenders should be aware that technological advancements have "significantly" bolstered detection capabilities by the various stakeholders, which has also improved the police's ability to solve physical crime.
"With these advancements and further investments in technological tools by SPF, culprits will be caught and taken to task under the law."
Continue reading...