SPF plans major developments in northern S'pore

SINGAPORE: Singapore's Police Force is augmenting its resources on the ground.

It is setting up a new Police Land Division Headquarters in Woodlands New Town and two Neighbourhood Police Centres (NPCs) in Marsiling and Punggol.

Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said these are major developments, benefiting residents living and working in Woodlands, Sembawang, Yishun and Choa Chu Kang areas.

All three projects are targeted to be completed by 2015 and is in tandem with the area's rapid development.

Mr Shanmugam explained that the north of Singapore is becoming a vibrant hub, with a growing resident population.

The new Police Land Division and NPCs will provide faster response, increased police presence and help police in its fight against crime.

But Mr Shanmugam stressed that there is a limit to increasing police resources.

"Much investment goes into the selection and training of police officers to be effective law enforcers. We should therefore use them to do the job they have been recruited and trained to do.

He said currently, the police are often called to address problems which are neither crime-related nor pose a real threat.

And the nature of these calls typically ranged from complaints about noise, anti-social behaviour and many other similar complaints.

Officers are also asked to mediate quarrels between neighbours, and at times to deal with snakes and monkeys.

Mr Shanmugam said although many of these cases may be non-urgent, every caller expects his case to be treated as priority.

Last year, the police had more than 430,000 non-urgent calls, working out to almost 1,200 a day.

He cautioned this meant police officers were being delayed from responding to urgent calls, including those with imminent threats to life and property.

Turning to Singapore's crime rate, Mr Shanmugam told the House that the country's crime rate has continued to drop in the past few years.

There were 650 crimes per 100,000 population last year, the second lowest in 20 years.

He added that while incidents of youth violence hit the headlines last year, Singapore's crime incidence remained low and is one of the safest cities in the world.

Public confidence in the Home Team was also high.

A survey by the Ministry of Home Affairs of 2,000 residents last year found that 91 per cent generally felt safe within their neighbourhoods.

This was an increase over the 83 per cent result when the survey was last conducted in 2004.

More than 92 per cent of the respondents also expressed confidence in the Government's ability to ensure the safety and security of Singapore.