The police chief of Johor has declared his state to be "safe beyond doubt".

Referring to negative perceptions of the crime situation in Johor and recent crime statistics, Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said that the state's police are in "full control".

Datuk Mohd Mokhtar noted that the number of violent and property crime cases in Johor fell about 36 per cent between 2008 and last year. Overall, there were 17,105 crime cases in the state last year, or about 10 per cent less than in 2012.

The police chief also assured Singaporeans that they are not specifically targeted by criminals: "Crimes are committed when an opportunity arises regardless of (a victim's) race, religion, sex and nationality."

Of the 17 million Singaporean tourists in Johor last year, he noted that only 397 of them were victims of crime.

Besides enforcement by Johor police, Datuk Mohd Mokhtar advised that visitors also have to be responsible for themselves and take their own precautions against crime.