Ang Mo Kio Police
Division
By ASP Sandiran Ganesan
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| Land Area Covered: |
131 sq km |
Ang Mo Kio Police Division –
Rooted in the Heartlands
Ang Mo Kio Police Division, one of the
largest heartland divisions, has jurisdiction
over more than one-third of the residential
population of this country.
This is set to increase with new
developments such as the Khoo Teck Puat
Hospital, Seletar Aerospace Hub, and
Punggol Sea Water Sports Hub as well as
a host of new residential and commercial
developments soon to emerge in the
rapidly developing estates of Sengkang,
Punggol and Sembawang.
Change of Command
We ushered in a new era of leadership on
25 June 2007 when Superintendent Lee
Chin Ek took over from Superintendent Tan
Chye Hee. With his vision and stewardship,
we emerged second in the Best Land
Division Competition in FY 2007. |
| Population in Area: |
1,300,000 |
| No. of Neighbourhood Police Centres: 8 |
| No. of Neighbourhood Police Posts: 8 |
| Characteristics of Locality: |
High population density with heartland,
commercial and industrial areas. |
Recharging Our Taskforce
In FY 2007, we focused on two main
objectives – combating the high incidence
of harassment by unlicensed money
lending (UML) and cracking down on
crime.
From September 2007 to March 2008, 195
offenders were arrested. An operation by
the Task Force in December 2007 also led
to the arrest of 17 subjects and crippled two
UML syndicates involved in harassments
island-wide. Through these operations, ‘F’
Division arrested almost one-third of UML
offenders in Singapore.
‘F’ Division leveraged on the Joint
Operations, Investigations and Intelligence
(JOII) operations and formed a dedicated
task force to tackle crime. Complemented
by SPF’s partnerships with the other Home
Team counterparts and the community,
the cumulative efforts of these joint
operations and collaboration resulted in a
15.7% drop in crime rates compared to the
previous year. FY 2007 saw a 19.8% decrease
in five categories of preventable crimes
reported as compared to the previous year.
Consequently, ’F’ Division emerged as the
land division with the best improvement in
overall crime control.
Operation Capture
Our officers demonstrated a high level
of resilience, commitment and initiative
during ‘Operation Capture’. ‘F’ Division also
turned this challenge into an opportunity
to fight crime and save lives. Whilst
combing through the forested areas in
search of Mas Selamat Kastari, we found
and arrested over 100 immigrant offenders.
During operations at Punggol Marina, one
of our officers also made a daring rescue of
a female member of public who had fallen
into the deep waters.
Engaging the Community
FY 2007 saw ‘F’ Division further
strengthening its bonds with community
partners, and securing their support in
addressing critical security issues such
as homeland security and emergency
preparedness. Nee Soon South residents
came together, in their first community
engagement programme-focused project,
to craft a response plan for their
constituency.
Recognising the imminent problems posed
by UML, our officers cooperated with
the community on several Community
Safety and Security Programmes (CSSP)
to collectively combat UML harassment.
We recruited deputy units through CSSP
initiatives, namely SOS, EagleEyes, I-Watch
and PROWL to battle persistent crime and
tackle UML cases.
During the year, we won five out of 21
National CSSP Awards. One of our notable
CSSP projects was the formation of the
Tagore Industrial Estate Community Safety
& Security Watch Group, which clinched
the Home Team Achievement Award 2008.
‘F’ Division also won 4 out of the 6 gold
awards in the Neighbourhood Watchzone
Competition.
Our strategic partnership with the
community enabled us to rapidly rally 241
grassroots members in the constituency
to disseminate flyers during the search
for Mas Selamat Kastari. These members
also broadcast the information through
the residents’ internet discussion forums,
lending further support to SPF’s outreach
efforts.
Togetherness in Work and Play
To build teamwork and camaraderie,
promote individual and organisational
resilience, as well as balance the work and
leisure activities of our officers, ‘F’ Division
organised various activities, such as Family
Day at the Wild Wild Wet theme park, and
trips away from Singapore to Genting, Bali
and Phuket. Some of these events included
family members.
A Clean Bill of Health
The Organisational Health Survey (OHS)
2007 provided us with a timely assessment
of our strengths and weaknesses, and areas
for improvement. ‘F’ Division performed
well above SPF’s overall average in all 18
categories, equalling, if not surpassing
the results of the 2005 survey. These
encouraging results have spurred us to start
working on three areas of improvement,
namely career development and
performance management, rewards and
recognition, and operational efficiency.
To optimise scarce resources, we
have introduced a flexi-shift for the
Neighbourhood Police Centre Officers
(NPCOs) to cater to the many demands for
policing services. We will be commencing
‘one-man patrols’ (OMOs), and bicycle
patrols to private estates, so as to enhance
our presence and outreach capabilities.
A Calendar of Promise in
FY 2008
The officers at ‘F’ Division will continue to
hone their skills and develop capabilities
that make SPF a force to be reckoned with.
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