The Police have arrested a 21-year-old man for his suspected involvement in a series of shop theft at electronic stores islandwide.
Between 22 July 2016 and 31 July 2016, Police received reports from an electronic store at Square 2 that electronic items had been stolen from the store.
Following extensive enquiries and follow-up investigations, officers from Tanglin Division managed to establish the identity of the suspect and arrested him at Yishun Ave 9 on 4 August 2016. Several camera accessories, along with other electronic items such as speakers and headphones, were seized. Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect is believed to be involved in a series of shop theft cases islandwide.
The suspect will be charged in Court on 6 August 2016 with the offence of Theft in Dwelling under Section 380 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224. If convicted, he faces an imprisonment term which may extend to 7 years and shall also be liable to a fine.
Retailers are strongly urged to take action to prevent shop theft and reduce losses by adopting the following measures:
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Employ sufficient staff to keep an eye on merchandise, especially during peak periods so that no part of the store is left unattended;
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Adopt a service approach towards loss prevention. Should staff detect suspicious persons in the shop, they should engage them proactively to provide more personalised attention. This would likely deter would-be thieves, while genuine shoppers would appreciate the good service;
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Be alert to customers who ask excessive and irrelevant questions. This could be a distraction to divert the attention of staff while other accomplices commit the theft;
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Install CCTV cameras at the entrance / exit of the store to capture the facial features of shoppers. Do ensure that the cameras are regularly serviced and in good working condition;
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Display expensive items in locked showcases;
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Install convex mirrors to cover blind corners; and
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Install an Electronic Article Surveillance System and adopt "double tagging" for high value merchandises (i.e. use both overt and covert tags).
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
05 August 2016 @ 10:10 PM