More police officers in beige berets will be patrolling popular areas such as Orchard Road and Marina Bay, in another boost for Singapore’s counter-terrorism response. Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam announced the measure to underline the need for a robust counter-terrorism capability following the shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand.
In-situ Reaction Team (IRT) officers, easily recognisable by their beige berets, were first deployed in December 2017 to heighten security in places with large crowds during the festive period. “Our plan is to put more IRTs in locations with large crowds so that the response time for the police is reduced,” Mr Shanmugam said at the Singapore Police Force’s (SPF) annual workplan seminar held at the Singapore University of Technology and Design.
Citing the Christchurch shootings to show how terror attacks can happen any time and anywhere, he said: “If it can happen in New Zealand, it can happen anywhere. New Zealand is one of the last places you would expect an attack.” Mr Shanmugam praised the response of the country’s people and the political leadership shown by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her government, saying that New Zealand’s national response was something Singapore could learn from.
Noting that the first minutes are the most critical in the event of a terrorist attack, Mr Shanmugam said that enhancing the equipment and the training of Singapore’s counter-terrorism forces will reduce the response time. Front-line officers have been re-equipped with pistols in place of traditional revolvers, while officers from the Emergency Response Teams have received new vehicles with more space for their operational equipment.
The tempo of exercises has been increased to maintain the officers’ readiness. Each exercise serves as an important validation of Singapore’s counter-terrorism capabilities, Mr Shanmugam said. Another 10,000 cameras have been installed under the PolCam 2.0 programme, bringing the number of fully operational police cameras deployed in public areas to nearly 80,000.
Mr Shanmugam added that while the SPF has continued to keep crime under control, there is still the need for caution, citing a surge in violent crime – especially stabbings – in Britain.
“It wouldn’t have occurred to me to think of London in those terms,” said the minister, noting that the number of fatal stabbings in England and Wales in the past two years was the highest since 1946.
