After a video posted online claimed that a group of officers bullied and taunted an elderly woman without a mask in Singapore, the police released body camera footage of the incident.

Background

The video, uploaded on May 18, showed a group of police officers conversing with two individuals, one of whom is an elderly woman.

Originally posted as an Instagram story, it accused the officers of "cluster[ing]" the elderly woman and abusing their authority.

The claims were later reproduced by The Online Citizen Asia (TOC) and Singapore Uncensored. TOC also subsequently interviewed the woman and wrote in a Facebook post that "she was not given food by the police officers" and "she was chased away from her spot".

A police statement on May 19 said that officers responded to the incident on May 17 at around 6:43pm, at Blk 743 Yishun Ave 5.

The 85-year-old woman, who did not have a mask on, appeared lost.

Officers attended to her and helped her find her way home, said the police, adding that the officers, worried that she might be hungry, bought her food.

The woman's domestic helper was later contacted and she was returned home safely.

Body cam footage & live audio

On May 25, the police said that they are aware of an online post alleging that inaccuracies were contained in their earlier statement.

The police addressed two main allegations: 1) The elderly woman was not given food, and 2) Police officers reprimanded her.

Body camera footage showed police officers buying a packet of food.

The officer can be heard ordering two chicken wings with chilli from a food stall, adding that the elderly woman "requested" for it.

The police said that the domestic helper can attest to the fact that there was a packet of food with the elderly woman when she arrived at the scene.

The officer can be seen approaching the elderly woman and speaking to her in dialect, saying, "Auntie, let me bring you home."

The elderly woman can be heard responding: "No need... I can go home on my own."

A video released by the police also said that it is not true that the officers reprimanded her.

Officers "did not taunt or reprimand her (the elderly woman)", and instead, told the domestic helper to remind the elderly woman to wear a mask.

In the video, an officer can be heard saying to a domestic helper: "She never wear mask, you know? You tell your ma'am, she go out, she never wear mask."

The police added that the online post which carried an interview with the elderly woman "did not present the full context as the elderly woman has dementia".

Reached out to family member

The police has also spoken to a family member of the elderly woman.

The family member has confirmed that the elderly woman has dementia and may not remember the full account of the incident clearly.

After discussions with the family member, the police decided to release relevant snippets of the Police’s body-worn camera (BWC) footage online.

This is "not our common practice", they said. "Police generally do not release such BWC footage as the information is confidential."

To ensure the privacy of the elderly woman, her family and her domestic helper, the police said they will not be releasing any further footage.

You can see the full post and footage here:

Top photo via Singapore Police/Facebook.