page_title: Singapore Police Force
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Singapore Police Force / History
caption_attribution_description: Description: View of the Jurong Police Division HQ with the SPF logo Source: Self-made Location: Jurong Police Division, Singapore Date: 12/12/2005 14:48 Photographer/Painter: Huaiwei
context_page_description: The Singapore Police Force is the principal law enforcement agency within the Republic of Singapore. It was formerly known as the Republic of Singapore Police.
  The SPF is a uniformed organisation under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The mission of the SPF is to prevent, deter and detect crime to ensure the safety and security of Singapore. This is done through its focus on the five broad areas of Police work: Frontline Policing, Counter and E-services, Community Engagement, Investigation, and Public Security & Order. The vision of the SPF is: A Force for the Nation – To Make Singapore the Safest Place in the World.
context_section_description: The Singapore Police Force is as old as modern Singapore. The Force was formed in 1820, with a skeleton force of 11 men under the command of Francis James Bernard, 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 licenses 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 Malay 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, all the more possible as the communities lived in segregated areas around the city.
  This partnership with the community was in line with Sir Stamford Raffles' vision of a thriving colony largely self-regulated by local social structures, with the British masters administrating it via indirect rule. The large influx of migrants from China, however, began to test this system when the hands-off approach by the British allowed secret societies in Singapore to thrive. Although originally formed with legal intentions of community bonding and the provision of assistance to fellow migrants, these societies gradually became influential, competitive, and increasingly engaged in illegal activity including monetary extortion from the masses, the operation of gambling dens and the smuggling of illegal goods on top of more legal commercial operations to meet their financial needs.
  Competition gradually heated up between large rival factions, such as that between the larger Ghee Hin Kongsi, the Ghee Hock Kongsi and the Hai San Kongsi. Murders, mass riots, kidnappings, arson, and other serious crimes became commonplace in the next four decades since the colony's founding. Faced with violent acts of crime which may involve thousands, such as the Chinese Funeral Procession Riots of 1846 involving 9,000 members from the Ghee Hin and Ghee Hock secret societies, the police force was woefully incapable of bringing the situation under control and often had to call in the army for assistance. The escalating number of serious crimes prompted the need for stronger legislation to deter would-be criminals. Singapore's first executions were thus held in the wake of the first criminal session in June 1828, when a Chinese and Indian were found guilty and convicted for murder.
  Headed by Europeans and predominantly staffed by Malay and Indian officers, the force had little Chinese representation as to the military and policing professionals were traditionally shunned by the Chinese community, which therefore impaired policing efforts among the large Chinese populace. In 1843, the force comprised a sitting magistrate doubling up as a superintendent, three European constables and an assistant native constable, 14 officers and 110 policemen. With a total strength of no more than 150 men, the police were compelled to avoid direct intervention in these mass acts of violence, else risking almost total annihilation.
  A repeat of this scenario occurred in 1851 when lingering displeasure against Roman Catholic ethnic Chinese erupted into major rioting leaving over 500 Chinese dead. The army was called in again, although it involved having to induct Indian convicts into military service almost overnight. In 1854, twelve consecutive days of violence sparked by a dispute between the Hokkiens and Teochews disrupted trade. This particular incident led to the formation of the military's Singapore Rifle Corps on 8 July 1854, the earliest predecessor of the S
caption: Jurong Police Division Headquarters at Jurong West Avenue 5, note the Singapore Police Force crest prominently displayed.
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