BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

THE crime rate in the sultanate continued to rise over the last three years, with cases last year increasing by 5.946 per cent to 6,824 from 6,441 in 2013, the Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF) said recently.

Based on statistics published at the RBPF website, 3,854 of the total cases recorded last year were classified as “crime against property”, while 1263 were classified as “other offences against the penal code”.

These two categories had been rising since 2012.

In 2013, there were 3,545 cases involving “crime against property” while 1,189 for “other offences against the penal code”.

In 2012, there were 5,888 cases, of which 3,152 were classified as “crimes against property” and 1,142 as “other offences against the penal code”.

Last year, however, cases under “the offences towards human body” decreased to 545 from 600 in 2013. There were 605 cases in 2012.

For “offences against various acts”, there were 137 cases in 2012, 168 in 2013 and 188 in 2014. Crime cases lodged with other agencies reached 974 in 2014, 939 in 2013, and 852 in 2012, the RBPF said.

His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, recently revealed in his titah that out of the total cases, only 1,228 or 21 per cent were solved while the other 5,596 remained unsolved.

The monarch, during his impromptu visit to the RBPF, had also said that the total number of cases had excluded more serious crimes, such as murder and armed robbery.

The Brunei Times