Singapore has consistently been ranked one of the safest cities in the world. In 2024, the island nation’s police reported 277 total days without any crimes, including theft, burglaries and robberies. That low crime rate means that many small businesses have little concern about shoplifting. In fact, many businesses take few precautions when closing up at night. For instance, in the ground floor lobby of a mixed-use building in the downtown business district, many shops don’t have windows, locks, or even doors. A Starbucks located in Raffles Place, one of Singapore’s busiest underground train stations, has no formal doors. Rather, a small rope indicates when the store is closed, and merchandise is all still displayed and within an arm’s length of commuters. Of course, surveillance is highly prevalent in the city, which boasts about 5.5 million people. There are currently in the neighborhood of 62,000 cameras in the city, so if a crime is committed, the chances of being caught on camera are very good.
