The Union of Security Employees (USE) shared an incident onto Facebook on 16 February involving one of their security officers.
The incident happened at United Square on 6 November 2021.
The security officer had signaled for an SUV driver to stop, and the driver then drove into a barricaded lane at a drop-off point.
The driver then allegedly shoved the security guard onto the ground after alighting from his car to confront the guard, resulting in the guard suffering a fracture to his pal and an injured lower back.
The police are investigating the incident and the union is assisting the officer, who is on medical leave because of the alleged incident.
The injured security officer who has been a senior security officer deployed at United Square to control traffic at United Square’s drop-off point, has been working for about 5 years prior to the alleged assault.
Here is USE’s statement
USE General Secretary Raymond Chin visited our member SSO P at his home recently. SSO P is currently on medical leave as a result of an assault he suffered at work.
SSO P was deployed at the drop-off point of a mall when a BMW car attempted to cut into the taxi lane illegally. When SSO P stopped the car, the driver of the BMW allegedly alighted and assaulted him. The driver then drove off. SSO P suffered a fracture on his palm and hurt his lower back. He has filed a police report and investigations are ongoing. USE is assisting SSO P on this and have also provided quick relief funds to him.
Our officers perform duties as provided for under the Private Security Industry Act (PSIA). In our latest survey conducted with the Singapore University of Social Sciences, 39% of officers reported facing abuse at work, with the general public forming the largest group of abusers.
The PSIA was amended in 2021 to offer stronger protection to our security officers. Penalties for offences against officers were increased, with the heaviest penalties increased to a $10,000 fine and up to 5 years imprisonment for voluntarily causing hurt.
USE, together with Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Security Association Singapore (SAS) and Association of Certified Security Agencies (ACSA), have issued decals to sites in Singapore where officers are deployed to, urging the public to respect our officers. USE has also launched a mobile app and also runs fortnightly newspaper advertisements for officers to report abuse.
USE will continue to protect our officers, including taking legal action against perpetrators.
Images source: Union of Security Employees (USE)