Mid-Year Overview of Singapore’s Safety and Security Situation

JANUARY TO JUNE 2016

Law and Order Situation in Singapore Remains Favourable

Improvement in Overall Crime Situation

Crime remains low, with the total number of crime cases falling by 2.1% from the same period last year [1] . This reduction is largely driven by the fall in "Violent/Serious Property Crimes", "Housebreaking and Related Crimes" and "Theft and Related Crimes". However, the number of "Crimes Against Persons", "Commercial Crimes", and "Miscellaneous Crimes" rose compared to a year ago.

Table 1: Crime Cases Reported

Reduction in Fatal Traffic Accidents

2. The number of fatal traffic accidents fell 12.0% from the same period last year.                                                     Table 2: Fatal Traffic Accidents

Fall in Number of Fire Calls

3. The Singapore Civil Defence Force responded to 2,146 fire calls in the first half of 2016, a 10.8% fall from the 2,406 fire calls in the same period last year.

Table 3: Fire Calls By Type of Premises

Improvement in Immigration Offender Situation

4. The total number of immigration offenders arrested continued to decrease. In the first half of 2016, the number of arrests fell by about 36.6% from the same period last year.

Table 4: Immigration Offenders Arrested

Trends of Concern

Increase in Internet-Related Scams

5. Internet-related crimes increased, with 'Internet Love Scam' cases rising by 98.7% and 'Cheating Involving E-Commerce' cases increasing by 13.4%. The Singapore Police Force (SPF) adopts a multi-pronged approach of tough enforcement action, community partnership and public education to combat internet-related scams. SPF will continue to work closely with the National Crime Prevention Council, other law enforcement agencies, schools, parents and community partners to raise awareness of internet-related scams.

Table 5: Crimes of Concern

Increase in Traffic Accidents Involving Elderly Pedestrians

6. The number of traffic accidents involving elderly pedestrians increased. The Traffic Police (TP) will continue its engagement efforts to reach out to senior citizens to raise road safety awareness. TP will also continue to work closely with its partners and the community to implement initiatives to enhance road safety for elderly pedestrians.

Table 6: Traffic Accidents Involving Elderly Pedestrians

Increase in Emergency Medical Services Calls

7. The number of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) calls continued to increase. In the first half of this year, the number of ambulance calls that SCDF responded to increased by about 8.0% from the same period last year.

Table 7: Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Calls

Increase in Number of New Drug Abusers under 30 Years Old

8. While the overall drug situation remains stable, there is an increase in the number of new drug abusers under 30 years old.  The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) arrested 1,778 drug abusers in the first half of this year [2] . This was an increase of 3.6% from the 1,717 drug abusers it arrested in the same period last year. About 41.0% (729) of all drug abusers arrested were new abusers. Among the new abusers, 66.5% (485) were below 30 years old. The number of new abusers below 30 years old increased by 8.7%.

Table 8A: Local Drug Abusers Arrested

Table 8B: New Drug Abusers by Age-Groups

Everyone Can Play a Part to Keep Singapore Safe and Secure

9. Our law and order situation remains favourable. Nevertheless, Singapore continues to face various threats, especially terrorism. The community has a key role to keep Singapore safe and secure.

10. The SGSecure national movement will be officially launched next month and will sensitise, train and mobilise Singaporeans in preventing and dealing with a terror attack. Every member of the community must do their part by staying alert to security threats, staying united as one people, and staying strong to bounce back quickly in the event of a terror attack.

Infographic (PNG, 875KB)

[1] Figures for the first half of 2016 are provisional as of 5 July 2016.

[2] Figures for the first half of 2016 are provisional as of 11 July 2016.