[MAN IN THE NET: A panel at the prisons workplan seminar features the iRobot, an outdoor surveillance patrolling robotic system which can be equipped with non-lethal weapons. ]
By DARYLL NANAYAKARA
GANGSTERISM within the Singapore Prisons Service (SPS) jailhouses is well under control. To keep things that way, inmates will be introduced to a string of initiatives to help them stay away from gangs.
The measures, which were revealed yesterday at the SPS workplan seminar at the Singapore Expo, include getting the inmates to publicly renounce their links to gangs. To help inmates see the benefits of leading a life away from gangsterism, a series of anti- gang campaigns and awareness talks will be held for them.
An Intelligence Cultivation network between the SPS and the Secret Societies Branch will also be set up, so will an after- care support system to help inmates who have renounced gangsterism cope when they are released from prison.
The renunciation system is on trial at the Kaki Bukit Prison School and, by the end of the year, it will be put in place at the Changi Prison Complex, the 48ha central jailhouse located at the site of the former Changi Prison.
The new strategies will work in tandem with the Zero-Tolerance Policy introduced by the SPS in 2001, under which inmates who dabble in gang-related activities are punished.
During the seminar, Second Minister for Home Affairs K.
Shanmugam praised the SPS for its dedication to nurturing inmates but cautioned that it will face a "challenging" road ahead, given the current economic crisis and new security demands.
Mr Shanmugam, who is also the Law Minister, added that there is a need to "stand prepared and ready to cope with the potential increase" in inmates.
