Grading of Private Security Officers

Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs whether the Ministry will consider developing a system to grade private security officers based on their training and competency to enable a more distinct differentiation in their remuneration.

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Mr Teo Chee Hean: Unarmed private security officers (SOs) provide a wide range of services, including premise security, access control and security screening. To enhance the professionalism of SOs, the Police Licensing and Regulatory Department (PLRD) will be identifying the key specialist functions where additional training and certification are necessary. SOs can then be trained accordingly to take on these functions. This should translate to higher wages as better trained officers add more value to their jobs and will be differentiated from others.

For a start, PLRD has imposed such training requirements for SOs performing security screening. SOs must receive specific Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) training before they are allowed to perform screening functions involving the use of X-ray or metal detectors. PLRD is currently looking into imposing training requirements for other security functions.

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