The Police will be charging a 77-year-old man for his suspected involvement in a case of theft in dwelling.
On 12 November 2022 at about 5.45pm, the Police received a report of theft at a departmental store at the vicinity of Jurong East. Through ground enquiries and with the aid of images from CCTV cameras, officers from Clementi Police Division established the identity of the man and arrested him on 15 November 2022. Preliminary investigations revealed that the man is also believed to be involved in other similar cases of theft in dwelling islandwide.
The man will be charged in court on 17 November 2022 with theft in dwelling under Section 380 of the Penal Code 1871. The offence of theft in dwelling carries an imprisonment term which may extend to seven years, and a fine.
Retailers are strongly urged to take precautions to prevent shop theft and reduce losses by adopting the following measures:
- Employ sufficient staff to keep an eye on the merchandise, especially during peak periods so that no part of the store is left unattended;
- Adopt a service approach towards loss prevention. Staff should engage suspicious persons in the shop to engage them proactively to provide more personalised attention. This would likely deter would-be thieves, while genuine shoppers would appreciate the good service;
- 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 a theft;
- 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;
- Display expensive items in locked showcases;
- Install convex mirrors to cover blind corners; and
- 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
16 November 2022 @ 9:20 PM