KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 ― Public perception of high crime was not reflective of the fact that the crime rate has fallen by 40 per cent in the past five years, PEMANDU's director for crime reduction Datuk Dr Amin Khan said today.

Speaking at a crime prevention forum here, Amin lamented that efforts to cut crime has gone unrecognised by the public despite the reduction achieved.

“The crime index in 2009 about 580 crimes per day, today or last year in 2014 through crime survey it came down to 350 per day. It came down by 40 per cent,” Amin said.

“The problem is you and me did not see it.”

He added that since 2009, public fear of crime remained above 50 per cent as  there were still crime hotspots in the country.

Amin said the best way to overcome the skewed perception was to assist the police in eradicating these hotspots.

UPNM's criminologist Professor Teh Yik Koon said another factor contributing to the fear was poorly-maintained environments.

“Studies show improved public lightning can also increase public perceived safety of a place a place,” she said.

Teh also suggested increasing police presence in crime hotspots and installing more security equipment such as closed-circuit television (CCTV) in public areas, which she said was proven to be effective in deterring crime.

Putrajaya's claimed success in reducing crime as demonstrated by official data showing a drastic drop in the crime index has been challenged by opposition lawmakers and watchdog groups who insist the situation on the ground did not match that which is depicted by the statistics.

Some opposition lawmakers have also accused Putrajaya and the Home Ministry of manipulating crime data to achieve the decline in the index.