Lapses Identified in Review Panel's Report on Fatal Child Abuse Incident

54 Mr Low Wu Yang Andre asked the Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs regarding the SPF officers' failure to follow established processes identified in the Review Panel report on the February 2020 fatal child abuse incident, whether internal reviews indicated the lapses were isolated or indicative of broader systemic issues in supervision, training or adherence to protocols.

Mr K Shanmugam: Megan Khung's case was a tragedy. Minister Desmond Lee has earlier set out the Government's views on it.

In 2020, after Megan's death was uncovered, the Police reviewed their handling of the case.

There were two rounds of Police reports filed. The first report was made in January 2020 by Megan's grandmother. Further Police reports were made in July 2020, by Megan's grandmother and father. The Investigation Officer (IO) who dealt with the first Police report and her supervisor, failed to follow Police's procedures to escalate the case to the regular case review sessions for monitoring and guidance.

The IO had assessed this as a case of child discipline with low safety concerns based on the information that she was presented with at that time. Following the report, the IO attempted to contact Megan's mother over the next two weeks but could not reach her. She did not follow up beyond that because she was then deployed for COVID-19-related duties.

Despite this, the case would normally have been followed up if the IO and her supervisor had escalated the case to the regular case review sessions in the first place. The subsequent Police reports concerning Megan were referred to the regular case review sessions. This eventually led to the discovery of Megan's death and arrest of the perpetrators.

Police commenced internal investigations once the case came to light in 2020 and disciplined both the IO and her supervisor. The IO resigned subsequently.

The review panel corroborated these findings.

For missing person reports, the Police have established procedures to guide the follow-up. Specifically, the Police accord priority to missing vulnerable persons as they may be at higher risk, regardless of the duration they have been missing. This includes young children.

Cases of missing vulnerable persons are escalated to the regular case review sessions with supervisors for monitoring and guidance. It is standard procedure for the Police to work with other Government agencies to locate missing persons, including sharing the data of the missing persons. Where necessary, the Police may also issue appeals for information to seek the public's assistance.

The Police do not track the duration taken to close a case. There are many factors that can affect the length of an investigation. This includes the wide range of offences with varying complexities as well as the need to work with different partners as part of the investigation process.

There are internal controls in place to ensure that cases are followed up promptly. These include a daily case review process for supervisors to provide guidance on the cases, and multiple levels of supervision and regular checks throughout the investigation. But the Police continue to strengthen these processes and systems.

In particular, the Police have made several enhancements.

In 2022, they introduced the Family Violence Training Package for all frontline and IOs to adopt a sensitive approach to family violence cases, including child abuse cases and to recognise and escalate high-risk cases to the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF).

In 2023, the Police formed Family Violence Teams (FVTs) at all Land Divisions to give focus to family violence cases, including child abuse cases. Specialised training is provided to FVT officers to equip them with the knowledge and skillsets to handle these cases, such as how to engage the victims sensitively as well as on working with other agencies. In particular, when the Police come across a case of suspected child abuse or when MSF receives an urgent report on high-risk cases through their National Anti-Violence and Sexual Harassment Hotline, the Police will work with MSF's Protective Service for safety planning and social intervention for the family and child. This may include the activation of MSF's Domestic Violence Emergency Response Team (DVERT), a round-the-clock service launched in 2023 to provide immediate help to high-risk domestic violence cases with immediate safety concerns. DVERT officers would respond on-site to conduct a professional assessment and make urgent arrangements for the victims to be relocated or placed in alternative care for their safety, if necessary. DVERT officers are also empowered, under the Women's Charter, to issue Emergency Orders at the scene and to provide immediate safety for the victim.

To strengthen IOs' efficiency and supervisory capabilities, the Police have also harnessed technology for the review of cases. They have implemented technological solutions to trigger automatic notifications to IOs and their supervisors to complete time-sensitive tasks promptly.

Our frontline Police Officers bear a heavy responsibility to protect lives. They take this responsibility seriously and perform their duties with commitment and professionalism. The demands on our Police Officers continue to increase. They often have to make difficult judgement calls every day in the course of their duties. When under pressure, mistakes can happen.

In this case, the lapse arose because two Officers, who were under pressure, did not follow the operating procedure. It was a serious breach and it resulted in a tragic outcome. The Police will learn from this and reinforce procedures and training for its Officers.