How to Make a Police Report in Singapore

This is general legal information, not legal advice. Consult a qualified advocate and solicitor about your situation. Information last verified on 22 July 2026.

Making a police report (lodging a report with the Singapore Police Force) is how you put a crime formally on record. This guide sets out when to call 999, how to make a non-urgent report online or in person, why i-Witness is not a police report, and the serious consequences of giving the police false information.

The channels described here come from the Singapore Police Force’s own e-services, and the offences for false reporting come from the Penal Code, published on Singapore Statutes Online.

When to call 999 and when to make a report

The first question is urgency. If a crime is happening, someone is in danger, or immediate police action is needed, you call 999 or SMS 70999. That is not the online report service, and it should not be delayed by trying to file online.

The online police-report e-service is for the opposite situation: a matter that does not need immediate police action, such as a theft that has already happened or a scam you have discovered. For those, an online report is the ordinary route.

Making a report online

The online e-service lets you lodge a non-urgent report through the Singapore Police Force website. It requires a SingPass login, which is how you are identified as the person making the report.

Once logged in, you set out what happened, when, and any details or evidence you have. The report is then recorded with the police, and it becomes the formal basis for any follow-up.

What the online service does not cover

The online service is not a catch-all. Several matters are expressly outside it, each with its own channel:

• A traffic accident is reported through a Traffic Accident Report, not the general online police report.
• A missing person is reported by calling 999 or visiting a Neighbourhood Police Centre, not online.
• The loss or theft of an NRIC or a Singapore passport does not need a police report at all; you deal with it through the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.

If your matter is one of these, using the general online report is the wrong route, and the guidance above points you to the right one.

Reporting in person

Online is not the only way. You may also report in person at a Neighbourhood Police Centre or a Police Post. For some matters, such as a missing person, in-person reporting at a Neighbourhood Police Centre is the stated channel.

Reporting in person can be the better choice where the matter is complex, where you need to hand over physical evidence, or where you would rather speak to an officer directly.

i-Witness is not a police report

The Singapore Police Force also runs i-Witness, a channel for members of the public to pass on information about crime. It is important to understand what it is and is not.

i-Witness is a tip-off channel, and it is expressly not a police report. A person using it can remain anonymous and is not updated on the outcome. If you want a matter formally recorded and pursued, you make a police report, not an i-Witness submission. Submitting false or malicious information through i-Witness is itself an offence.

Making a false report is an offence

A police report is taken seriously, and so is a false one. Giving a public servant information you know or believe to be false, intending or knowing it likely to cause the public servant to use their lawful power to another person’s injury or annoyance, is an offence under section 182 of the Penal Code. It is punishable with imprisonment of up to 2 years, a fine, or both. The section does not state a fixed maximum fine.

A related and more serious offence is in section 211: falsely charging a person with an offence, knowing there is no just or lawful ground for the charge. That is punishable with up to 2 years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both, rising to up to 7 years where the false charge concerns an offence punishable with death or with imprisonment of 7 years or more.

The practical point is simple. Report honestly and completely. A genuine report, even one the police ultimately cannot act on, carries no such risk; a knowingly false one does.

For the wider picture on policing and criminal records, see Police Reports and Criminal Records in Singapore.