Question:
Ms Hazel Poa: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs in the last five years and with a breakdown by minors and non-minors respectively (a) what is the annual number of arrests for violent offences such as causing hurt, assault or rioting; and (b) what is the annual number of police reports made concerning violent actions such as causing hurt, assault or rioting.
Answer:
Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law:
1. The Police define violent offences as the commission of: (i)
rioting-related offences under sections 146 to 148 of the Penal Code; and (ii) serious hurt
offences under section 323A and sections 324 to 326 of the Penal Code. In the following,
“minors” are defined as persons below the age of 18, while “non-minors” are those of or
above the age of 18.
2. Table 1 shows the number of arrests of minors and non-minors for violent offences
from 2019 to 2023.
Table 1: Number of arrests of minors and non-minors for violent offences between 2019-2023
| | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | Total |
| Arrest of minors | 123 | 100 | 111 | 71 | 78 | 483 |
| Arrests of non-minors | 715 | 718 | 712 | 691 | 518 | 3354 |
3. Table 2 shows the number of police reports made concerning violent offences from
2019 to 2023, resulting in the arrest of at least one minor or where only non-minors were
arrested, respectively.
Table 2: Number of police reports concerning minors and non-minors for violent offences between 2019-2023
| | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | Total |
| Police reports resulting in the arrest of at least one minor | 56 | 45 | 54 | 39 | 36 | 230 |
| Police reports resulting in the arrest of only-non minors | 368 | 420 | 420 | 410 | 329 | 1947 |
| Total arrests | 838 | 818 | 823 | 762 | 596 | 3837 |
4. The number of arrests for violent offences (whether for minors or non-minors) has
been steadily decreasing since 2019.
