Public Affairs Department

KEY HIGHLIGHTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS IN FY 2006

The Public Affairs Department (PAD) continued to be the driving force in improving public perception of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in FY 2006.

Managing Information for External and Internal Communications

A proponent of SPF’s image, PAD serves as an information conduit for the dissemination of information to the public as well as to the officers.

In FY 2006, the round-the-clock support of MROs has garnered an estimated $3,412,821 in media publicity, an increase of 10% from the last FY. This could be attributed to the various large-scale deployments for events such as GE 2006 and IIMF-WB Board of Governors Annual Meetings 2006 or S2006.

FY 2006 also saw the first full-scale operation of the Home Team Media Monitoring Centre (HTMMC) for S2006. Managed by PAD with support from other Home Team agencies, HTMMC provided continuous media monitoring to support media relations efforts.

To improve internal communications, PAD organised the sixth Internal Communications Seminar 2006, themed ‘Making Connections Right’, on 5 December 2006. The department also produced the S2006 Central Internal Communications Package (an information kit) to garner commitment and instil confidence in the officers deployed for S2006.

A Chronicle on S2006 titled ‘A Pledge to Protect’ was produced by PAD for long-term documentation and management of information. In FY 2006, the SPF Intranet adopted a new look to better enable officers to access and search for information.

Caring for the Community

In 2006, PAD led SPF in raising over S$430,000 from the SPF Charity Gala Dinner. The proceeds went to four Community Chest beneficiaries. The charity event also saw the production of SPF’s first joint musical, titled ‘Face of a Man’, with Fly Entertainment.

To promote the spirit of volunteerism among the officers, the SPF Volunteer Workshop 2006 was held on 20 November 2006 in conjunction with the official opening of the new SPF Volunteer Centre located at the old Police Academy. A volunteer orientation programme was also held on 12 January 2007 to induct new volunteers as well as to allow volunteers to better understand volunteer work.

Engaging the Community to Prevent Crime

Crime Watch, the well-received monthly television programme produced by PAD, continued to enhance public confidence in SPF’s ability to solve crime. It also helped to cultivate public-spiritedness and educate the public on crime prevention.

The Annual Festive Crime Prevention Campaign 2006, with the slogan ‘Low Crime Doesn’t Mean No Crime’, was also launched amidst much fanfare by Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs, Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, on 30 November 2007 at the Toa Payoh HDB Hub auditorium.

As Ambassadors of SPF

In FY 2006, PAD handled over 100 foreign visits to SPF, further strengthening relationships with other police forces in the region. SPF was honoured with a visit from His Royal Highness, Deputy Inspector-General of Police of the Royal Brunei Police Force, Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah on 8 May 2006. During his visit, His Royal Highness was awarded the Distinguished Service Order by President S R Nathan. Held from 27 to 29 March 2007, the Global Security Asia 2007 Conference was another large-scale event which saw PAD officers handling protocol arrangement for representatives from 13 foreign countries.

PLANS FOR FY 2007

PAD strives to be the ambassador and intelligent voice of SPF. In FY 2007, PAD will continue to explore new initiatives to engage its internal and external audiences so as to enhance the SPF brand name.