Some societies do better than others at stopping crime too. Can we set our bar to match Singapore in that respect?
Plenty of other countries have done the same, actually. The knee-jerk response of adding more cops actually makes society worse for all of us.
Also the subway stories are probably more about general fear of whatever criminals are apparently lurking down there. It can get kind of scary in the subway when it's deserted. especially Upper Manhattan where it's so deep down. Meanwhile when I travel in developed Asian cities, it's not scary at all. Just really really crowded.
You only see police occasionally doing their patrols, so it can be argued there is less of a police presence than say NY. There is no need, there are cameras everywhere and its a small Island, you can't run anywhere.
With respect to the parent's comment on subway deaths: > Singapore has entirely solved the root problem in a non-carceral way by investing in infrastructure.
There are barriers that only open when the train has arrived, so there quite literally cannot be deaths from people pushing others onto the tracks. I presume that is what he means by infrastructure.
They don't...first offense you basically get off with a warning. Recent headlines was a case of Australian school girls shoplifting [1]. Although they're foreigners, same goes for locals.
[1] https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/6-austra...
That said, incarcerating people is liable to immerse them into the hardened criminal culture, which is not productive and calls for some alternatives.