Drop in serious crimes

SERIOUS crimes recorded last month decreased by 20 per cent over July, while crimes against women dropped by 11 per cent and crimes against children by 38 per cent.

Police statistics show that while there was a reduction in crimes against women, domestic violence still dominated the list.

Of the 177 reports, 16 per cent were of sexual offences, 84 per cent were assault-related while 45 cases were domestic-related and perpetrated by a spouse, de-facto partner or a relative.

For serious crimes, offences that recorded an increase were aggravated burglary, act with intent to commit rape and theft of motor vehicle.

The police said prevalent crimes theft, burglary, assault, unlawful possession of illicit drugs and damaging property.

There were six theft reports that had multiple counts (12 counts, 14 counts, 17 counts, 24 counts, 25 counts and 39 counts) and these involved withdrawal of cash or use of cheque for personal gains through bank cards.

Acting Commissioner Juki Fong Chew said the festive season would be demanding on operations, and with petty thefts on the rise, stringent measures were needed to counter offences that were opportunistic in nature.

Mobile phones, jewellery, cash and electronic gadgets were targeted by offenders with operations looking also at the receivers of stolen goods.

Mr Chew said from January to June 2023, the number of overall crime cases was consistently lower than the five-year average, but there was still a need to address opportunistic crimes which required consistent efforts of proactive community policing.