Ang Mo Kio wins police's Best Land Division award

SINGAPORE - For the second year running, the police division that serves the largest group of residents here has clinched a top policing award.

Get the full story from The Straits Times.

Here is the statement from the Singapore Police Force:

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) held the Police Day Parade 2014 on Tuesday at the Home Team Academy at 501, Old Choa Chu Kang Rd, Singapore 698928. A total of 655 participants comprising officers from the various police divisions and units as well as the National Police Cadet Corps were involved in the parade segment, with about 1,500 SPF officers and invited guests attending the event.

Three prestigious awards, namely the Best Land Division Award, Best National Service Operationally Ready Unit Award and Best Volunteer Special Constabulary Unit Award were presented during the parade. These awards are the result of an annual review for all operational units.

The winners have received their trophies from Mr. S. Iswaran, Minister, Prime Minister's Office, Second Minister for Home Affairs and Second Minister for Trade and Industry, who graced the event as the Guest-of-Honour.

Best Land Division Competition

The Best Land Division Competition (BLDC) was first introduced in 1996 to honour the Police Land Divisions for outstanding performance. The intent of the BLDC is to encourage a culture of healthy competition, greater divisional esprit-de-corps and a heightened sense of mission-mindedness.

The performance of the six land divisions is assessed based on the overall scores collated from a common scorecard, which reflects excellence in a set of performance indicators categorised into the following three areas:

i) Mission effectiveness
ii) Efficiency
iii) Values and readiness

Ang Mo Kio Police Division won the Best Land Division award this year. The Division was also the winner for Best Land Division in 2013. Please refer to Annex A below for the media statement attributable to Commander (Covering), Ang Mo Kio Police Division, Superintendent Leon Chan.

Best National Service Operationally Ready Unit Competition

The Best Police National Service (PNS) Land Division Competition, introduced in 1997, aimed to accord formal recognition to the PNS Land Divisions for their outstanding management of PNSmen and to motivate these Divisions to strive for continuous NS excellence. A review on the competition criteria was conducted in work year 2011/2012, with the objective of seeking greater alignment with SPF's Mission and Vision . Changes were therefore made to the criteria and the competition was renamed the Best National Service Operationally Ready Unit Competition (BNSORUC).

The revised competition assesses the performance of the PNS units based on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) broadly categorised under Operational Readiness, Professionalism and Administrative Excellence. These revised criteria for BNSORUC are geared towards enhancing the operational readiness of PNSmen. In FY2012, in addition to monitoring the performance of the 6 Land Divisions, the performance of 4 specialist units was also tracked, namely - Airport Police Division, Key Installations, Police Coast Guard and Transport Command. With effect from FY 2013, these Specialist Units are also part of the competition.

The winner of the Best National Service Operationally Ready Unit Competition is Central Police Division. The division was also awarded the Best National Service Operationally Ready Unit in 2013.

NS Commander, Central Police Division, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Police (NS) Lionel Chai Yee Yuen, had set a clear mission for his division at the start of the work year to achieve operational success and administrative excellence. A key priority of the Division is to ensure that its PNSmen derive a great sense of satisfaction when they perform their NS duties and remain motivated to achieve excellence.

He also credits the success to the commitment of the Division's NS leaders, PNS Personnel Office staff and NS appointment holders in ensuring that the contingent is well managed.

Best Volunteer Special Constabulary Unit

The Best Volunteer Special Constabulary (VSC) Unit Award was introduced in 2005. VSC Bedok Police Division has once again won the Best VSC Unit award this year after topping the competition in 2013.

Head VSC, Bedok Police Division, Superintendent of Police (V) Tham Wai Kee commended his officers for their dedication and commitment to achieve high standards required of them. He said "the recognition by our regular counterparts will continue to motivate us in our duties". He also dedicates the award to the families of the officers who continue to support them in their mission to keep Singapore safe and secure.

Here is the statement from the Ang Mo Kio Police Division:

Ang Mo Kio Police Division, or 'F' Division, has created history for ourselves by winning the title of Best Land Division back to back; we were Best Land Division in FY2012, and again in FY2013.

The Best Land Division is not an easy accolade to achieve. It is recognition for excellence in all aspects of Policing, including the operational fitness of our officers, their ability to reduce and solve crime and our administrative efficiency.

Crime

The mission of the Singapore Police Force is to prevent, deter and detect crime. To paraphrase Sir Robert Peel, the effectiveness of a Police Force is in the absence of crime and disorder and not in the visible evidence of Police action in dealing with it.

To this end, 'F' Division has done well. Following a reduction in Overall Crime of 2.1 per cent in 2012, Ang Mo Kio Police Division has continued to keep crime down in 2013. Overall crime fell by 16.6 per cent in 2013, or 916 cases in absolute number, when compared against 2012.

The number of 5 preventable crimes reported went down by 31 per cent. In fact, each of the five preventable crimes has registered a decrease, with housebreaking and theft, motor vehicle theft and snatch theft registering significant decreases of 61 per cent, 45 per cent and 33 per cent respectively.

Our efforts against loan shark operators have continued to yield positive results, as evidenced by the declining number of harassment cases reported - a near 26 per cent decrease in 2013. Every case prevented means there are less members of the public being hurt or suffering wrongful loss.

Committed and dedicated officers

The award can, first and foremost, be attributed to the tireless work of the officers in 'F' Division. The 1,200 officers in the Division serve in varying functions; from patrol officers to investigators to support staff. They are united by their belief in the Police mission and have worked as a team to help the Division achieve greater heights. Each of them deserves credit for this momentous achievement, not because of the competition, but because they gave their best through the year.

Community Partnership

'F' Division serves the largest resident population amongst the six Police land divisions, policing over 1.4 million residents spread across seven major housing estates: Ang Mo Kio, Hougang, Punggol, Sengkang, Sembawang, Serangoon and Yishun.

It would be impossible to keep the Division as safe as it is without the strong support of the community. Community Partnership is another of the key factors in 'F' Division's success. We work with residents, grassroots organisations, schools, business owners, and industry partners etc. to develop localised community safety and security projects (CSSP).

On top of working with youths in Project Greenleaf and foreign workers through Project FORWARD, 2013 also saw the launch of Mall Watch and Silver Watch CSSPs. The first targets shopping malls within our jurisdiction, focusing on the safety and security of tenants, management, and shoppers at large; while the latter targets elderly residents.

It is important for us to be in touch with the public at all levels. On top of the regular engagement at grassroots meetings and events, my Commanding Officers and I meet up with the Chairman of Citizens' Consultative Committees and other grassroots leaders regularly. Their feedback helps shape our policing strategies, which in turn impact our policing outcomes.

Community Policing System (COPS)

The implementation of the Community Policing System has brought us even closer with the community. Four of our Neighborhood Police Centres have made the transition to COPS. Other than specialised units to engage the community and solve crime, the NPCs in 'F' Division all have individual Facebook pages and a growing network of Police cameras to help keep neighborhoods safe. Riding on new technology has improved the Policing outcomes in 'F' Division. With a combined total of almost nineteen thousand likes, our NPC Facebook pages allow residents to be aware of the latest crime trends in their own neighborhoods. Appeals for information sent out through Facebook directly accounted for 9 arrests in 2013. Images retrieved from the PolCam CCTVs accounted for 14 arrests. This can only continue to improve and is a testament to the impact of technology in keeping our neighborhoods safe.

Conclusion

The Best Land Division Award is the ultimate recognition of the hard work put in by all the men and women of 'F' Division. We are honoured to be conferred the title of Best Land Division again for FY2013, and pledge to continue to do our best to bring about a safe and secure Singapore.