SINGAPORE: Crimes like snatch theft and rape went up in the first six months of this year, compared to the same period last year.

But overall, the crime rate remained at almost the same level as the first half of 2006.

The overall number of cases recorded from January to June this year was 16,118, up by 25 cases compared to the 16,093 cases in the same period last year.

One particular area of concern is that more elderly people are falling prey to snatch theft.

Mary Kam, 69, is a Crime Prevention Ambassador who gives talks to seniors on how not to become a victim to crime, said: "For example, I tell them not to wear a lot of jewellery as they will attract the attention of bad people who will follow him or her to the lift.

"I have become a Crime Prevention Ambassador because there are a lot of crimes targeted at the senior citizens. I want to educate them so that they don't become a target of crime."

Under the National Crime Prevention Council, the Crime Prevention Ambassador initiative has been in place for some six years now.

It has about 100 senior citizen volunteers.

Soh Wai Wah, Senior Assistant Commissioner, Chief of Staff, Singapore Police Force, said: "This group of people are chosen and trained. They're of the appropriate age group to reach out to the elderly to impress upon them how they can better protect themselves against crime."

In the first six months of this year, about 88 elderly were victims of snatch theft cases.

This is about 50 more elderly victims compared to the same period last year. Most of the victims were women and were going home alone.

But snatch theft, which went up by 24 percent to over 340 cases, was not the crime with the biggest increase.

Top on the list - percentage wise - is rape, with cases going up to 70 in the first half of this year.

Police said about 90 percent of the rape cases involved offenders who were known to their victims.

Motor vehicle theft cases also rose by about 26 percent, from some 430 cases in the first half of last year to about 540 cases this year.

About 73 percent of motor vehicle thefts took place in car parks located in public housing estates. Most of the stolen vehicles were motorcycles.

On the upside, cases like housebreaking have gone down from 560 to about 500.

Murder cases have also seen a drop from 12 to 6, and all of these cases have since been solved.

Although overall crime scene has remained stable, police have urged Singaporeans to make crime prevention a part of their lifestyle by continuing to be vigilant.


- CNA/so