2026 outlook: What’s next for crime – and the top stories of 2025

From the time the new laws kicked in to Dec 18, more than 2,700 people were caught and fined for vaping offences.

In total,

. As part of the new anti-vape regime, at least 162 have been placed in rehabilitation programmes.

For the first time, Singaporeans were identified as the ringleaders of overseas scam syndicates.

In September, Singapore Police Force officers took part

to bust a syndicate led by a young Singaporean.

A number of syndicate members were arrested in Singapore after they returned from Cambodia.

The police later

against 27 Singaporeans and seven Malaysians suspected of being involved in the syndicate.

Checks by ST found that the alleged masterminds of the scam operation were

.

So far, of those wanted,

have been caught.

Separately, a Singaporean was caught in a

in November.

Scam losses in Singapore since 2020 have crossed the $4 billion mark, with

in the first 10 months of 2025.

This has prompted enhanced penalties and stricter laws, including the introduction of mandatory caning – of at least six strokes and up to 24 – for scammers, syndicate members and recruiters.

The authorities said they had recently observed an increase in the number of scammers exploiting Facebook to run impersonation scams using videos or images of key government office-holders in fake advertisements, accounts, profiles and business pages.

This led to the police

under the Online Criminal Harms Act, requiring it to target scammers impersonating government office-holders on Facebook or risk a fine of up to $1 million.

This was the first time such an order has been issued by the police to an online platform to tackle scams.

Speeding violations

from the same period the previous year, with more than 118,000 offences recorded.

Despite repeated warnings and stepped-up enforcement, the Traffic Police said there has been little improvement.

To tackle the worrying problem, motorists caught speeding from Jan 1, 2026, will be slapped with

.

Motorists who go over their vehicular or road speed limit can expect to receive between two and six more demerit points.

Those caught driving not more than 20kmh above the speed limit will receive six demerit points, up from the current penalty of four demerit points.

Motorists who go over the speed limit by 41kmh to 50kmh will get 18 demerit points, up from the current 12 points. They will also be charged in court.

Those who go over the speed limit by more than 50kmh will have their licence immediately suspended.

The first day of the new year also marks the deadline for the

for 2,485 lorries.

The Traffic Police said that as at Dec 11, about 495 of these lorries have yet to do so.

First

, the speed limiter regime requires all lorries with a maximum laden weight (MLW) of between 3,501kg and 12,000kg to be fitted with a speed limiter that caps the speed at 60kmh.

Goods vehicles with an MLW of over 12,000kg are already fitted with such devices.

From 2026, all newly imported lorries with an MLW of over 3,500kg must be equipped with the device.

Existing lorries registered before 2018 must also have the limiter. Those registered in or after 2018 have up to 2027 to install the device.

Seven murders were reported in 2025, with at least three of them involving knives.

Three of these murders happened within a span of just 21 days, from Oct 24 to Nov 13.

They include a man who

in a Boon Lay flat on March 11, another man who has been

in a Sengkang flat on June 1, and a woman who was

in Yishun on Sept 24.

Physical crimes, like violent ones involving knives,

, with 75 knife-related incidents reported in the first half of 2025.

This is compared with 59 cases in the same period in 2024, which saw 131 such incidents for the whole year.

On March 19, a woman allegedly 

 on the first floor of People’s Park Complex in Chinatown. Three men were later found injured at the scene.

On Oct 26, a woman was arrested after she allegedly

at Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre. Two women and a man were injured.

Hours later in the early morning of Oct 27, a man

who went to check on him in Bedok. The officers used a Taser to stop him and he was arrested.

to better protect victims of crime.

For example, the maximum jail term for the fatal abuse of vulnerable victims was changed to life imprisonment or up to 30 years, up from 20 years’ jail previously.

The Government will also strengthen child protection processes in the light of the case of

, who died in 2020 after more than a year of abuse by her mother and the woman’s then boyfriend.

A review panel had found

by agencies in the handling of the case, including a Child Protective Service officer who failed to log calls from the girl’s pre-school seeking help, and police officers who did not follow procedures.

Victims of online harms will also receive better protection after the 

 was passed in November.

The new laws pave the way for the set-up of a

by June 2026 that can direct platforms to take down harmful content.

The new agency is expected to handle cases involving cyberbullying, sexual harassment, intimate image abuse, child abuse material, impersonation, deepfakes and hate speech.