Singapore Police Force

1°19′27.56″N 103°50′43.24″E﻿ / ﻿1.3243222°N 103.8453444°E﻿ / 1.3243222; 103.8453444 The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is the national and principal law enforcement agency responsible for the prevention of crime and law enforcement in the Republic of Singapore. It is the country's lead agency against organised crime; human and weapons trafficking; cyber crime; as well as economic crimes that goes across domestic and international borders, but can be tasked to investigate any crime under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and is accountable to the Parliament of Singapore.
SPF's main geographical area of responsibilities covers the entire country, consisting of five regions which are further divided into 55 planning areas. The organisation has various staff departments with specific focuses. These include the Airport Police Division (APD), which covers policing of Singapore's main civilian airports of Changi and Seletar, or the Police Coast Guard (PCG), which protects and enforces areas under Singapore's territorial waters and its ports.
Formerly known as the Republic of Singapore Police (RSP; Malay: Polis Repablik Singapura), the SPF is a uniformed organisation. The SPF has declared its mission and vision as to "prevent, deter and detect crime to ensure the safety and security of Singapore". It is Singapore's point of contact for foreign agencies such as Interpol and other international law enforcement agencies. The organisational structure of the SPF is split between staff and line functions, which is roughly modelled after the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).
The SPF currently consists of sixteen staff departments, four specialist staff departments, eighteen specialist and line units as well as seven land divisions. Its headquarters are located at one of the blocks of the New Phoenix Park building in the Novena district, which is located directly adjacent to a twin block occupied by the MHA. Situated within the headquarters are the Police Heritage Centre (PHC), which is open to the public and showcases the SPF's history through its various exhibits and multimedia displays.
As of 2023, the SPF has a strength of approximately 11,500 personnel: 10,400 sworn officers and 1,100 civilian staff. The SPF has generally been credited as being the forefront in keeping crime in Singapore low, as well as being relatively transparent in its policing. Accordingly, Singapore has been considered as being one of least corrupt and safest countries in the world. The SPF also works closely with the Internal Security Department (ISD) and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB). As of 2022, the current Minister of Home Affairs is K Shanmugam, while the current commissioner of the SPF is Hoong Wee Teck.
The Singapore Police Force was founded in 1820, starting with just 11 men under the command of Francis James Bernard, the son-in-law of William Farquhar. With no background nor knowledge on policing, Bernard had to work from scratch, as well as occasionally turning to Farquhar for help. In addition, he held multiple roles as magistrate, chief jailer, harbour master, marine storekeeper, as well as personal assistants to Farquhar. Farquhar informed Raffles that he had provisionally introduced licences for opium and alcohol sales that would raise $650 per month, with $300 of this sum being used to run a small police department.
As the department took form, Bernard became in charge of a writer, one jailor, one jemadar (sergeant) and eight peada (constables) by May 1820. Raffles approved these arrangements by August 1820 and cemented the formal establishment of a police force in Singapore. Manpower constraints meant that the men had to perform a wide range of roles, and required the help of headmen among the various ethnic communities to maintain orderliness on the streets.
Many laws that were enacted during this time remains in force today. These include the passing of Singapore's first arms law in March 1823, which heavily restricts the ability to bear arms. Nearly two centuries later, these anti-arms laws continue to be strictly enforced, resulting in a society relatively free from firearms-related criminal offences.
The SPF remains the sole policing force in Singapore after its independence. The country has one of the lowest murder rates in the world, as well as the lowest firearm-related death rates. The major crimes that tend to affect the Singaporean populace in the 21st century are usually cybercrimes, such as scams that are often based overseas. In 2020, cybercrimes made up almost half of all crimes in Singapore.
Land divisions are given designations according to the NATO phonetic alphabet.
Defunct land divisions include:
The Singapore Police Force receives the highest budget allocation annually as compared to the various departments of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), typically accounting for about 50% of its annual budget. For the fiscal year of 2013 (for the year beginning 1 April 2013), S$3.89 billion was budgeted to the MHA, of which 47.8% or S$1.86 billion was allocated for the Police Programme. Actual expenses in the 2013 fiscal year were S$2.04 billion, of which S$1.88 billion was spent on operating expenditure (against the budgeted S$1.79 billion) and S$159.1 million on development expenditure (budgeted at $71.83 million). Manpower costs amounting to S$1.16 billion continue to dominate the SPF's expenditure, accounting for 61.7% of its operating expenditure and 56.9% of total expenditure in FY2013.
The latest budget for fiscal year 2015, S$2.47 billion was allocated to the Police Programme, or 49.5% of MHA's total budget of S$5 billion (the Ministry of Defence, in comparison, received a S$13.12 billion budget allocation). This includes S$2.26 billion for Operating Expenditure and $210.93 million for Development Expenditure. The main Development Expenditures expected in FY2015 included the construction of new buildings such as the Woodlands Police Divisional HQ as well as the acquisition of new patrol craft for the Police Coast Guard and the installation of police cameras at more HDB blocks and multi-storey car parks.
As of 31 March 2023, the total strength of the force stands at 43,600. Manpower trends in recent years are as follows:
Regulars, or uniformed, full-time officers, constitute about 20% of the police's total workforce and number approximately 9,000 in strength. Basic entry requirements for police officers include normal fitness levels, good eyesight, and at least five passes in the GCE Ordinary level or a NITEC from the Institute of Technical Education, although those with lower qualifications may still be considered. Those joining the senior police officers require a basic degree from a recognised university. Alternatively, police officers from the junior ranks may also be considered for promotion into the senior ranks. Officers serving in the force as national servicemen are also regularly considered for absorption into the regular scheme. Basic training for all officers are conducted at the Home Team Academy, under the purview of the Police Training Command. It takes about six months and nine months to train a new police officer and senior police officer respectively.
As is the case with many other civil service positions in Singapore, the salaries of police officers are reviewed in accordance to market rates. Salaries are kept competitive as part of anti-corruption measures. Gross starting salaries for police officers may range from S$1,820 to S$2,480, and that of senior police officers from S$3,400 to S$4,770, depending on entry qualifications, relevant/useful work experiences and National Service.
Police officers commence their careers as Sergeants (Full GCE 'A' level or Diploma holders), while senior police officers start as Inspectors (bachelor's degree). Reviews of an officer's performance for promotion consideration are conducted annually.
When full-time National Service (NS) was first introduced in Singapore in 1967, it was initially solely aimed and geared towards the building-up of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). Meanwhile, in Singapore Police Force, NS was not extended to that of compulsory full-time service, with police NS being only part-time, unlike that of the SAF. There was little urgency and pressure for the police force to increase its overall manpower-strength until the Laju incident of 1974, Singapore's first encounter with international terrorism, demonstrated the need for additionally trained reserve-officers who could be called up at short-notice in the event of a national crisis or a major and serious public emergency. Singapore's full-time National Service policy was thus extended to the Singapore Police Force in 1975, which stemmed from the then-primary aim of guarding and protecting key and vital public installations, such as sensitive ones like power substations and petrochemical industries, and to act as a swift-response reserve unit. Subsequent expansion of this NS scheme, along with changing security needs and requirements and the trend in outsourcing key-installation protection (such as to the various local auxiliary police forces) has expanded the role of police national servicemen to more varied functions, which may range from mainstream administration and operations (such as the role of Staff Assistants (SAs) based in offices), to basic police investigation (like the Ground Response Force (GRF) of the SPF's Land Divisions) and front line policing (as seen in the Police Coast Guard), alongside their regular counterparts.
Formed in 1946, The Volunteer Special Constabulary (VSC) is an important component of the Singapore Police Force, contributing more than fifty years of volunteer service to the nation.
The VSC is composed of volunteers from all walks of life in Singapore, from businessmen to blue-collar executives to even bus captains, bonded with the same aspiration to serve the nation by complementing the Singapore Police Force. They are vested with equal powers of a police officer to enforce law and order in Singapore. VSC Officers don the same police uniform and patrol the streets, participate in anti-drug operations and sometimes even high-speed sea chases.
Previously headquartered at the Eu Tong Sen Street Police Station and Toa Payoh Police Station, it relocated to the new Police Cantonment Complex in the year 2000.
Civilian staff in the Police Force are deployed in areas such as technology, logistics, human resource, and administrative and financial services as well as investigation, planning and intelligence. The civilian staff schemes fall under the general civil service schemes managed by the Public Service Division. These schemes include:
The civilisation of non-core police functions has accelerated over the years in order to free up additional manpower for redeployment into Police Divisions. Other changes include the deployment of contract staff through organisations such as Ministry of Finance's VITAL.org for administrative staff and partners such as ST Engineering and Cyber Security Agency for technical support.
Dark blue is the organisational colour of the Singapore Police Force and has remained so continuously since 1969. Derivatives of the standard blue uniform (collectively called the No. 3 uniform) was adopted for specialised forces and for all officers in various occasions which calls for more formal or casual attire. The Traffic Police Department adopted a short-sleeved white tunic, dark blue breeches, a black leather Sam Browne belt, and riding boots for its officers performing mobile squad duties. A white crash helmet is worn when on the move, while a new dark blue jockey cap with chequered white and dark blue patterns around its circumference is worn when convenient while performing static duty. Members of the Vigilante Corps are also attired by a white short-sleeved top similar in design to the dark blue version for normal officers, gold-coloured buttons and badges, and a dark blue beret in place of the peaked cap.
Combat uniforms have also been adopted for specialist units such as those from the Special Operations Command and the Police Coast Guard (PCG), collectively known as the No. 4 uniforms. These involve the replacement of metal buttons with sewn-on plastic ones, the avoidance of all other metallic accruements which are deemed potentially hazardous to the officer or to others and the use of long-sleeved shirts.
The SPF introduced new uniforms made of 98% polyester and 2% spandex with better stretchable, perspiration absorption, and faster drying characteristics, as "part of ongoing efforts to improve officers' operational effectiveness and support them in their work". The word "police" is embroidered above the name tag of the new uniforms and the metallic buttons replaced with concealed plastic buttons for better comfort to allow officers put on the body vests over their uniforms. Riveted buttons are also fixed on the shoulders to allow the attachment of a body worn camera.
The following rank structure is used throughout the police force:
The rank of corporal (CPL) was abolished in 1972, but reinstated in 1976. In 1997, the location of all rank devices was shifted from the sleeves to the shoulder epaulets except for the Gurkha Contingent. Also in the same year, the station inspector rank insignia was changed from collar pips to a coat of arms of Singapore with upward-pointing chevrons above and an arc below, a design similar to that of the warrant officers of the Singapore Armed Forces, while the rank of senior station inspector (SSI) was also introduced. In 1998, the senior station inspector (2) (SSI(2)) rank was introduced, and changes were made to the SI, SSI, and SSI(2) rank designs. The rank of lance corporal was abolished in 2002. In 2006, the Gurkha Contingent adopted embroidered ranks as part of an overhaul of its combat dress, but are worn on the right chest pocket.
In July 2016, a revamped rank overhaul was done with the retirement of the ranks of staff sergeant, senior station inspector (1) and senior station inspector (2), as well as the abolishment of the separation line between junior officers and senior officers, to unify a unified rank-scheme. In addition, the sergeant rank has three different grades noted by a number from 1 to 3 placed in parentheses and suffixed to the rank abbreviation; namely, SGT(1), SGT(2), and SGT(3).
Police officers in the various divisions are armed when conducting regular uniformed patrols and plainclothes duties. Officers from different units are issued with different weapons.
The five-shot .38 Taurus Model 85 with 3-inch barrel featuring a laser sight by Crimson Trace is the standard issued sidearm of the Singapore Police Force with 10 rounds of ammunition. In 2015, the SPF purchased a number of CZ P-07 semi-automatic pistols. From 2016, selected officers were issued with the pistols as a trial. In 2019, it was announced that the Glock 19 was chosen as a replacement to the Taurus revolver. In addition to the use of the handguns, the police also use the Heckler & Koch MP5 sub-machine gun and the Remington 870 shotgun.
Extendable batons were initially used by specialist units such as Security Command and Special Operations Command, however, it has since been used by officers from other front-line units, replacing the Monadnock PR-21 side-handle baton. Sabre Red pepper spray canisters are exclusively equipped to the officers of Police Coast Guard and Police Tactical Unit. A pair of handcuffs is issued to the officers as restraints.
The Taser X26E stun gun was procured in the late 2000s and is part of the officers' equipment, which provides another non-lethal means of subduing suspects. Despite safety concerns due to incidents experienced by foreign police forces, the weapon was deemed suitable for use by trained personnel, and was rolled out across other NPCs. In 2018, the Taser X26E was replaced with the X26P model.
Land division officers typically patrol and respond to calls in vehicles known as the Fast Response Car (FRC). Car models that have been used by the SPF include the Subaru Impreza TS 1.6.
In 2005, the SPF introduced the new Fast Response Vehicle (FRV), consisting of modified Toyota Hi-Lux sport utility vehicles with a back compartment to carry equipment.
In 2009, the SPF introduced Forward Command Vehicles. These were replaced in 2017 by Division Command Vehicles with greater mobility designed to enhance command, control and coordination. In addition, the SPF introduced new unmanned aerial vehicles with red and blue siren lights, a searchlight, a high-definition camera and an audio warning system. The UAVs are controlled by two-man teams (consisting of a pilot and a safety officer) and are designed to conduct search and rescue operations, attending public order incidents, traffic management, hostage situations and crowd monitoring.
Police from the Community Policing Units may also patrol in residential neighbourhoods on bicycles. At the 2007 Singapore National Day Parade, the Singapore Police Force unveiled a Tenix S600 APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) had been purchased for its operations for the Special Operations Command, and in NDP 2015, the Achleitner HMV Survivor and the Gurkha MPV by Terradyne Armored Vehicles Inc was unveiled.
The various specialist units may also make use of other specialised equipment specific to their scope of duty
Other vehicles used by the various units include:
Police officers are governed by the Police Force Act (Chapter 235) and its Police Regulations (Chapter 235, Section 28 and 117) of the Singapore Statutes. The disciplinary offences can be found in its schedule. Misfeasance and malfeasance such as blue wall of silence, conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline, corruption, misconduct and malicious prosecution are referred to the Internal Affairs Office (IAO). The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) can be consulted to advise the police on its disciplinary proceedings. Police officers can whistleblow their colleagues' official misconducts and wrongdoings by filing official police reports themselves to officially open investigation papers against other officers. Full-time police national servicemen are also subjected to the Police (Special Constabulary) Regulations (Chapter 235, Section 85).
SPF HQ spokesperson routinely issues official statements stating that its officers are not only expected to uphold the law, but also to maintain the highest standards of conduct and integrity. The spokesperson added that SPF deals severely with officers who break the law, including charging them in court. Also, SPF usually commence disciplinary proceedings against the officers involved, and as well as suspend them pending internal investigations.
In March 1976, one of Singapore's top prominent senior lawyers, the late Subhas Anandan, was arrested by a corrupt policeman for suspected involvement in a secret society under the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act. He was remanded without trial in a prison for a few months. Subhas was exonerated and acquitted in November of the same year, following an investigation probe by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau.
On 10 July 2013, ex-policeman Senior Staff Sergeant Iskandar Rahmat — a 14-year veteran award-winning investigation officer — killed a car workshop owner and the man's son, and has since been on the death row from 2017 onward, after failing in his appeal and president clemency against the death sentence. The case was known as the Kovan double murders in Singapore media. On 5 February 2025, Iskandar was executed after his appeals to court & clemency to the president unsuccessful.
On 21 July 2023, police sergeant Uvaraja Gopal committed suicide following workplace harassment and racial discrimination. He had a history of mentally unstable behaviour, leading to him being relieved of carrying firearms in February 2023. He was being investigated after allegedly assaulting his brother a few days prior, and a report was filed by his mother saying she feared for her safety. The case garnered national attention and outrage, with calls for an independent inquiry due to beliefs of a coverup.
Through the Public Affairs Department, SPF has collaborated with the media industry to produce content that supports and promote the mission and brand of the organisation.
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