MHA to beef up police anti-riot force

MHA to beef up police anti-riot force

All eight recommendations of the Committee of Inquiry (COI) into the Little India riot to minimise the likelihood of similar incidents in the future have been accepted by the Government, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean told Parliament on July 7.

Certain measures, such as beefing up police presence in the popular ethnic enclave and a faster way of activating anti-riot troops in a large public order incident, are already in place, he added.

Other recommendations to strengthen the Home Team and improve the management of congregation areas are being studied and will soon be implemented.

DPM Teo, who is also Home Affairs Minister, was setting out the ministry's response to the COI report in detail for the first time since it was released last week.

He said the inquiry's analysis of the riot will be useful for the police as the force reviews its doctrines and procedures for public order incidents. The findings would also help hone the incident management skills of officers and commanders who "did the best they could in the circumstances they faced, with the information they had" on Dec 8, he added.


Get a copy of tabla! for more stories.

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.