SINGAPORE – There was an increase in physical crime in Singapore in 2022, with a total of 20,193 reported cases, up from 19,343 in 2021.

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) released its annual crime statistics for 2022 on Thursday, and said that despite the increase, the figure is still lower than the 23,980 cases in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.

For 2022, the police identified five main crimes of concern.

These were outrage of modesty, voyeurism, shop theft, theft in dwelling and rioting.

The total number of cases of outrage of modesty, or molestation, jumped to 1,610 in 2022, compared with 1,474 in 2021. Almost six in 10 (58.3 per cent) of the cases in 2022 involved culprits known to the victims, said the police.

Nightspots and the public transport network were highlighted as places where molestation frequently occurred. The police said this could be attributed to more people gathering at entertainment venues and taking public transport as Singapore emerged from Covid-19 curbs.

At nightspots, there were 129 molestation cases reported in 2022, compared with 21 in 2021.

There were 178 cases of molestation on the public transport network, compared with 163 in 2021.

The number of voyeurism cases in 2022 decreased to 424, from 467 in 2021.

Residential premises (142 cases), the public transport system (55 cases) and shopping complexes (54 cases) were the top three locations where voyeurs struck.

The police said cases on residential premises mainly involved voyeurs who were household members or fellow tenants who peeped at victims in toilets, while the cases on public transport typically involved the taking of upskirt photos.

Shop theft saw a significant increase in 2022 with 3,244 cases, up from 2,652 in 2021.

About two in three cases (67 per cent) happened at retail shops. Items typically stolen included food, beverages, alcoholic drinks, personal care products, clothing, accessories and cosmetics.

Theft in dwelling also rose to 1,729 cases in 2022, from 1,359 in 2021. Among the cases reported, 881 occurred on residential premises and 503 on commercial premises.

Items stolen on residential premises typically included cash, jewellery, mobile phones, bags and watches.

The police said most of the thefts were committed by tenants, roommates, family members, service providers, cleaners and friends of the victims.

There were also more rioting cases in 2022, which jumped to 60, from 46 in 2021.

The police said this was due to increased interaction among larger groups after the resumption of social activities and the reopening of nightspots when Covid-19 curbs were eased.

There were seven cases of murder in 2022 – the same number as in 2021 – involving eight victims, who were all allegedly killed by people known to them.

The Straits Times had in January 2023 reported on six of the cases, prior to the death of the victim in the Marsiling burning incident that took place in December 2022.

The man who allegedly set the victim on fire had his charge upgraded later from attempted murder to murder.

The other murder cases in 2022 included the case of a man who allegedly killed his twin sons – the boys were found dead in a canal in Upper Bukit Timah; a teen who allegedly killed his father in Yishun; and a man who allegedly killed his wife in their home in Ang Mo Kio.

For the first time, the police’s annual crime brief did not include scams, because scams overwhelmingly overtook every other crime type in 2022.

The scam numbers were released on Feb 8, showing that 31,728 cases were reported in 2022, up from 23,933 cases in 2021, an increase of 32.6 per cent.

Victims lost a total of $660.7 million in 2022 to scams, up from $632 million in 2021.

Assistant Commissioner (AC) Gregory Tan, the acting director of the police’s operations department, said the crime situation in Singapore remains under control.

“This is evidenced by the strong sense of security and safety the public has, supported by the strong public trust in the SPF,” he said. “The SPF will continue to step up our efforts to keep physical crime in check as we return to normality post-Covid-19.”

AC Tan called on the public to not take safety and security for granted, and urged community partners and stakeholders to work with the SPF to prevent, deter and detect crime.

He said: “It is only through a whole-of-society effort that physical crime will continue to remain low and Singapore can continue to be one of the safest places in the world.”