CRIME FIGURES, 1975-77

Mr Hwang Soo Jin asked the Minister for Home Affairs and Education if he will state the number of cases in 1977 of (i) armed robberies; (ii) thefts; (iii) rapes; (iv) murders; and (v) commercial crimes, and the number of cases solved in each category; and if he will give the comparative figures for 1976 and 1975.

Mr Chua Sian Chin: In 1977 there were 493 robberies. This was slightly higher than the 461 robberies in 1976 but much lower than the 690 robberies in 1975. For the three years 1975 to 1977 about 16% of the cases were solved.

Thefts rose from 9,519 and 9,483 in 1975 and 1976 respectively to 11,780 in 1977. Although the number of cases solved increased from 1,115 in 1975 to 1,297 in 1977 the percentage dropped from 12% to 11%.

There has been a slight decline in rape cases reported to the Police over the last 3 years from 59 in 1975 to 54 in 1976 to 48 in 1977. The number of cases solved showed a marked increase from 40% in 1975 to 75% in 1977.

Murder cases were also on the decline, failing from 49 in 1975 to 37 in 1976 to 36 in 1977. The percentage of cases solved rose from 54% in 1976 to 72% in 1977.

Commercial crimes rose by about 10%. There were 938 cases in 1975, 949 cases in 1976 and 1,045 cases in 1977. In 1977, 38% of the cases were solved and this was the highest for the 3 years, 1975 to 1977.

Statistics on the various crimes reported and solved during 1975, 1976 and 1977 are in the Table below.

TABLE