Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam spoke about the Home Team's focus on transformation through increased use of technology, during the Committee of Supply debate for the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
A topic Shanmugam focused on was the number of police cameras that have been installed, and how it had helped deter, solve, and investigate crimes.
Nearly 90,000 police cameras have been installed in major public locations.
According to Shanmugam, surveys showed that people felt safer with "prominent placement of police cameras in their neighbourhoods".
As of December 2020, police cameras assisted in solving over 4,900 cases.
Depending on the budgetary situation, Shanmugam promised that more cameras will be installed across the island in the next few years.
Other technology
In addition to the deployment of cameras, 300 next-generation Fast Response Cars (FRCs) are expected to be deployed by 2023.
These FRCs will have cameras that provide a 360-degree view of is surroundings so commanders can assess situations and deploy back-up if needed.
They will also be able to read the number plates of nearby vehicles and automatically flag vehicles of interest.
Since December 2020, two Police Beacon prototypes are in place at Sengkang and Punggol, and will be deployed for a year.
They will also have CCTV cameras.
Read more about the beacons here:
SCDF’s re-development of the Civil Defence Academy will include a Digital Learning Lab to provide Virtual Reality training.
The Virtual Reality training is to expose SCDF officers to operational scenarios, such as extricating casualties from a car wreckage.
Shanmugam noted that along with the increased in usage of technology, the Home Team Science and Technology Agency will need to hire a few hundred scientists and engineers over the next few years.
Similar manpower needs will be required in different fields like police investigators.
Here is an infographic detailing the technology changes:
