The Straits Times Forum published a letter from a member of the public after reports of two Traffic Police officers getting tased by a man with a stun device, when he was resisting arrest.
The member of the public asked why the Traffic Policemen were not armed when they are deployed on the frontlines, to which the Singapore Police Force issued a press release clarifying that their police officers are actually armed during their duty.
Background of the incident
𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗩𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦 𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗦 𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗟𝗨𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗚𝗘𝗗𝗟𝗬 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗜𝗡𝗝𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗦𝗧𝗨𝗡 𝗗𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗘
The Police have arrested a 38-year-old man for allegedly attacking and injuring two police officers with a stun device, which is a prohibited item in Singapore.
On 29 October 2023 at about 2.50am, two Traffic Police officers, aged 32 and 29, were conducting a vehicular patrol along Victoria Street when they spotted a speeding vehicle. The officers signaled for the male driver to pull over, but he stopped along the second lane of the road instead. When officers approached the driver to ask for his NRIC and driving licence, he only produced his NRIC for identification. To avoid further obstruction to other road users, the officers directed the driver to move his car to the side of the road for further checks.
The driver complied and stopped his car on lane three of the three-lane road near the junction of North Bridge Road and Jalan Sultan. He then dashed out of his car suddenly and fled on foot with his belongings that exposed a black object resembling the handle of a weapon.
The officers gave chase and managed to stop the man at a back alley near Jalan Klapa. The man dropped his belongings and a samurai sword with a black handle dropped out during the ensuing struggle with officers. The man then allegedly brandished a stun device in his possession and used it to tase the officers repeatedly. Despite their injuries caused by the stun device, the officers were able to subdue and arrest the man with the help of a passer-by, who was a 22-year-old off-duty full-time national serviceman from the Singapore Civil Defence Force.
The 32-year-old officer suffered back injuries and was conveyed to hospital where he was subsequently discharged with medical leave. The other 29-year-old officer suffered injuries to his left hand and leg.
The stun device, one samurai sword, two knuckledusters, various drug paraphernalia, and controlled drugs comprising a total of about 236g of ‘Ice’, 11g of heroin, 56 Erimin-5 tablets and two ‘Ecstasy’ tablets were seized from the man as case exhibits.
The 38-year-old man will be charged in court on 30 October 2023.
The Central Police Division also presented the Public Spiritedness Award to the 22-year-old off-duty full-time national serviceman, Private (PTE) Mohammed Akbar Madarsa Bin Mohamed Sultan, from the Singapore Civil Defence Force for his courage and public spiritedness in assisting to detain the man with the police officers.
The Police have zero tolerance for such brazen acts of violence against police officers and will not hesitate to take firm action against those who blatantly disregard the law. The Police would also like to remind members of the public that it is an offence to carry an offensive or scheduled weapon in a public place.
Here is what Commander of Central Division, AC Jeremy Ang, said to the media during the press conference earlier.
S’pore Police statement
TRAFFIC POLICE OFFICERS ARE ARMED
We thank Mr Desmond Cheng for his concern for the safety of our officers, “Traffic Police should be armed to deal with aggressive offenders” (2 November 2023).
Traffic Police (TP) officers are armed, to enable them to carry out their duties effectively.
During the 29 October 2023 incident where two TP officers were attacked by a man with a stun device, both officers were armed.
The officers’ priority was to prevent him from hurting any members of the public, and to apprehend him swiftly. Their initial evaluation of the threat posed by the man was that contact tactics would be sufficient to contain and resolve the situation, guided by the Police’s operating doctrine to use only the necessary force to deal with the threat. It was only while the officers were effecting his arrest that the man took out and used his stun device on them.
The Police have zero tolerance of violence against our officers and will take firm action against those who hurt our officers. We would also like to remind members of the public that it is an offence to carry an offensive or scheduled weapon in public.
SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE (SUPT) LIN ZHIHAO
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR (MEDIA RELATIONS DIVISION)
PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
07 November 2023 @ 8:43 PM