Physical crime up, with molestation one area of concern

Police also flag voyeurism, theft and rioting; total number of all cases hit 20,193 in 2022

- David Sun

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.