The police have denied claims that the loss of jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a spike in the country's crime rate.

In fact, the rate has gone down 23 percent, from January to November 15 this year, compared to the same period last year, it has been revealed.

Bukit Aman CID chief SAC Huzir Mohamed said this in response to a viral video on social media, which claimed that the crime rate in the country has shot up after many individuals lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Huzir, a total of 56,117 crimes were recorded in the country from jan 1 to Nov 15 this year, down from the 72,836 cases recorded in the corresponding period last year.

"There were 1,160 snatch thefts reported from Jan 1 to Nov 15 this year, which is lower than the 2,216 cases recorded in the same period last year.

"Out of the 1,160 cases, 527 suspects are already in police custody," Harian Metro quoted Huzir saying in a statement.

Based on the statistics, claims that the the country has seen an increase in the crime rate are untrue, he added.

Despite the dip in crime rate, the police will continue to be vigilant, Huzir stressed.

He further cautioned people against spreading fake news that could cause public unrest.

It has been previously reported that almost 90,000 people have lost their jobs as of Oct 22 this year, which is an increase of 278% compared with the same period last year.

The figure accelerated when the government implemented the lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, in March.

As of Nov 16, the coronavirus has infected 48,520 people in the country, and killed 313.

The global COVID-19 infection and death tally has surpassed 55.3 million and 1.3 million, respectively.


Source: Harian Metro
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