Measures to Help Police Protect Public and Guide Individuals at risk of Being Drawn into Knife-related Crimes

28 Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim asked the Minister for Home Affairs in light of the recent sword and knife-related crimes (a) what are the steps and measures taken to protect the public in terms of awareness and emergency preparedness; and (b) whether there can be a blanket ban on the possession of a knife, razor or other sharp object in any school, public or commercial premises.

29 Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether there are legislative measures to help the Police target and guide individuals who are at risk of being drawn into knife-related crimes due to certain mental or other conditions, to set them on a positive path similar to the recent Knife Crime Prevention Orders piloted in the UK.

The Minister of State for Home Affairs (Mr Desmond Tan) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Mr Speaker, I will address Oral Question Nos 28 and 29, Written Question No 11, as well as the questions filed by Ms Ng Ling Ling¹ and Dr Wan Rizal² for a future Sitting, please.

Mr Speaker: Please proceed.

Mr Desmond Tan: In the past five years, the number of knife-related crimes involving murder, robbery, rioting and serious hurt has remained relatively constant, averaging about 150 cases annually. About 36% of these crimes occurred in residential areas and 3% happened in educational institution premises. The remaining cases occurred in other public and commercial places.

For urgent incidents, including those involving dangerous weapons, the Police are, generally, able to respond within 15 minutes of the call. The officers will use force, where necessary. This includes situations which require them to protect and save lives, including their own lives, prevent the commission of an offence and arrest subjects.

Where a person refuses to comply with the Police's instructions and poses a threat to the lives of those around him, including the Police officers, the officers may use lethal force to neutralise the threat.

In incidents where firearms have been used, the Police Psychological Services Department works with the Police unit's leadership and para-counsellors to provide stress management interventions to support the officers involved.

MHA, currently, regulates six items under the Arms and Explosives Act, or AEA – sword, spear, spearhead, dagger, bayonet and dangerous bows and arrows. This list of regulated weapons will be expanded to include items, such as knuckledusters and flick knives, when the Guns, Explosives and Weapons Control Act replaces the AEA later this year. Regulated items will be subject to greater control, including the regulation of sales on e-commerce platforms.

We need to be calibrated on the regulatory measures to be imposed. Many items with common daily usage, like knives, can also be used as offensive weapons. We need to be practical and not over-regulate such items.

There are legislative measures to deal with persons with a higher propensity of committing crimes, including knife-related crimes, due to certain psychiatric conditions. For instance, a person who suffers from a mental disorder can be detained under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act.

Where a person has already been convicted of an offence, the Court may impose a Mandatory Treatment Order, or MTO, if his or her psychiatric condition contributed to the offence. The MTO would compel the person to undergo psychiatric treatment for up to 36 months in lieu of imprisonment, which would facilitate the rehabilitation and treatment of the individual involved.

For those who are incarcerated, the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) provides intervention for inmates who are at risk of violent re-offending. For example, they are taught how to regulate their emotions and acquire skills to resolve conflicts without resorting to violence.

MHA, together with our partner agencies, has also been engaging the public through the SGSecure movement, to build vigilance and preparedness against terrorism. Outreach efforts include sharing advisories, such as "Run-Hide-Tell" and "Press-Tie-Tell", as well as other emergency preparedness programmes such as the First Aid programme and the use of CPR-AED. These skills are also applicable in non-terrorism related emergencies, such as the recent knife incidents, and will help members of the public avoid or reduce harm to oneself or to others.

Mr Speaker: Ms Ng Ling Ling.

Ms Ng Ling Ling (Ang Mo Kio): Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I thank the Minister of State for his reply. Having had to assure quite a lot of residents at Buangkok Crescent for the recent knife-related crime, many residents have asked me what are the criteria for the Singapore Police Force (SPF) to locate a Neighbourhood Police Post in areas of high risks where there are concerns and there are actually incidents that have happened like this. What are SPF's criteria for locating a Neighbourhood Police Post so that they feel like there is more Police presence in the area?

The second question I have is, if Neighbourhood Police Posts cannot be located for good reasons, how much can patrol and surveillance be increased to again assure the residents?

Mr Desmond Tan: Thank you. The location of the Neighbourhood Police Post would be very dependent on the area of allocation in terms of the residential, commercial and other premises that are within the area. So, in fact, actually, members of the public have very easy access to the Police by dialing 999. In addition to that, we have actually deployed in some areas – where we think they may be more secluded – some mobile self-help stations, Police Beacons, where members of the public can activate the Police at the locations, for example, in the Punggol Park Connector area. So, these are experiments and pilots that we are trying out to try to allow members of the public to have easy access and also to give some form of assurance and confidence to our members of the public about the Police's presence around the neighbourhood.

But as the Member has rightly pointed out, the Police cannot be everywhere all the time. So, I think the community effort to get together to assure and to do the right thing during times of incidents like this, as we have witnessed in the Buangkok incident, in fact, how members of the public have come together, exercised their discretion and put the perpetrator in his place, I think, is a very encouraging effort – the community can play a role as well. The Police will continue to increase patrols in areas where there is potential high crime, where we have received more reports from members of the public, to give better assurance to members of the public as well.

Mr Speaker: Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim.

Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim (Chua Chu Kang): Just one supplementary question. In particular for MTOs, even without an MTO, would SPS be looking into a tailor-made, customised intervention programme within the prison, for any at-risk individuals? Also, for members of the public who have any information of individuals who may be at risk or susceptible to knife-related crimes, how would one go about highlighting that individual to the Police and for treatment?

Mr Desmond Tan: There are two parts to the question. The first part on SPS, I have mentioned briefly in my speech that the prison services today already have existing rehabilitative programmes for those who are at risk of violent re-offending and these include teaching them how to manage their own emotions and how do they deal with the urge to take offensive actions. Also, in terms of counselling and helping them to address their own issues within the prison terms that they are serving.

For other members of the public or people who are looking for help, there are more than just the prison service, the Police or MHA. We are working with other agencies which are dealing with mental health and mental issues to help address the concerns of some members of the public. MSF has been doing that. This question actually goes beyond MHA's as well as SPF's remit. If the Member wants to have further elaborations on it, I would encourage him to file a further question on how to deal with the mental health issues of the members of the public at large.