HOME TEAM'S MANPOWER AND WORKLOAD

HOME TEAM'S MANPOWER AND WORKLOAD: 11.

Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs whether he will provide an update on the Home Team's manpower situation and workload and how the Ministry has attended to the findings of the Human Factors Study commenced in 2008.

Mr Shanmugam (for the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs): Sir, Parliament has been informed that in July 2008, the Ministry of Home Affairs formed a team to study the human factor situation within the Home Team and the findings were reported to this House in 2008.

Since then, we have implemented a number of measures to address the findings, in particular, we have placed emphasis on ensuring that the quantity and quality of manpower resources are sufficient to handle the rising workload of the Home Team and optimising the deployment of our limited resources.

We made a concerted effort over the past two years to increase manpower resources in the Home Team. The Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), for instance, recruited some 1,150 and 830 officers respectively in 2009. This compares with 440 and 360 officers recruited respectively by the two departments in 2007. Overall, the Home Team’s operational force has increased

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from 15,000 officers in end 2007 to 17,000 officers in end 2009, a 13% increase.

The additional manpower has been deployed in areas which were found to be most taxed in the Human Factor Study. These include frontline policing in the Neighbourhood Police Centres, to which 410 more officers have been progressively deployed since 2008 with an additional 180 to be deployed by the end of this year, and the Checkpoints, to which 820 more officers have been deployed, with 200 more to be deployed by the end of this year.

As a result, staff well-being indicators have improved. For example, as compared to 2008, the percentage of police officers who forfeited vacation leave in 2009 dropped from 41% to 23% for senior officers, and from 19% to 11% for junior officers. The call-back rate for frontline shift police officers, which is the percentage of officers who are recalled back to duty on their off-days more than twice a month, declined from 3.7% in the first half of 2009 to 1.6% in the second half. In ICA, the average amount of overtime performed by each officer declined by about 20% since 2008, even as contraband detection improved by about 40%. ICA has also been able to re-open the old Woodlands Checkpoint to better cope with the increase in travellers, conveyances and goods over the years.

However, recruitment is only one side of the coin. Retention is the other. In recognition of the need to attract and retain better calibre officers, particularly those with Diploma qualifications, we announced in May this year enhancements to the career path for Diploma holders in the uniformed services in the Home Team. We have also developed a Home Team Specialist Scheme for those with special skills and training and who prefer to grow within the Home Team as specialists.

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The majority of Diploma holders who join us can expect to progress to senior officer ranks by the time they are due to retire. These Diploma holders will increasingly be an important group in our frontline force. With the experience gained from exposure on the ground and rising through the ranks, they will form a critical core in raising the competency and professionalism of our frontline operational force.

As a result, our resignation rates have fallen. Amongst senior officers, resignation rates have declined from 3.2% in 2008 to 1.7% in 2009. The resignation rates for junior officers have declined from 3.5% in 2008 to 2.5% in 2009. Our manning levels have gone up and the workload situation has improved. Whether we can sustain this trend or even see pressures reversing it in the light of an improving economy remains to be seen.

Notwithstanding the improving situation, we have to be realistic that fatigue will always be an issue faced by our officers. Functions performed by Home Team officers are 24/7 and may require officers to respond urgently in the event of contingencies or operational needs. While we will ensure that our officers get enough rest by rostering them and scheduling off-days, the exigencies of service are such that our officers may nonetheless be required from time to time to put in extra hours or to give up their leave days. If left unchecked, fatigue can lead to a degradation of the performance of our officers.

Thus, apart from shoring up our manpower resources, fatigue management measures have been another part of our response to the Human Factor Study.

First, we have introduced electronic focus groups to collate feedback and learning points from officers on the

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ground. Unlike traditional face-to-face focus groups, electronic focus groups are conducted online to provide officers with anonymity and a safe environment to provide their honest and frank feedback of events. Electronic focus groups were used in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) last year to conduct pre-APEC ground readiness sensing and post-APEC operations reviews. This year, they will be used for the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) operations, and will continue to be a regular part of fatigue management strategy for large-scale deployments in the future.

Second, we have also rolled out a series of programmes to educate Home Team officers on individual and organisational fatigue management since February last year. Targeted at officers holding leadership and supervisory positions, these programmes run by the Home Team Academy’s Behavioural Studies Unit (BSU) covered various topics ranging from individual signs and effects of fatigue to organisational strategies on fatigue management. Selected officers were also equipped with the knowledge and resources to conduct in-house fatigue management training for their respective departments. Additionally, to maintain Home Team officers’ awareness on operational fatigue, the BSU also designed and disseminated informational posters and cue cards and calendars containing tips on fatigue management across the Home Team.

I have given a snapshot of what we have done thus far to address the gaps identified in 2008. However, demands on the Home Team will continue to increase over time given the growth in the numbers of people and activities in our country, and the growing complexity of the security and law and order environment. Resources, on the other hand, are finite. The challenge is thus not just to ensure that the Home Team is adequately staffed, but to also inculcate

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an understanding within our society – the larger public as well as other stakeholders – not only on the limitations of resources used to maintain security, law and order, but also the fact that we can never entirely eliminate human error. No country can guarantee its citizens that it can prevent an attack. Indeed this is precisely why countries know they must cooperate to share intelligence against the threat of terrorism. This is also why the strategy must always be that while we should do whatever is practicable to prevent an attack, we must at the same time assume that it can happen. We must, therefore, prepare ourselves to deal with its consequences. This is why we have invested so much energy in contingency and consequence management, including shoring up the resilience of our people through the Community Engagement Programmes.

In this connection, we have benefited from strong community support for our Home Team agencies, without which the high level of safety and security we enjoy today would not have been possible or sustainable as our manpower-to-population ratios for the Home Team are low compared to similar jurisdictions abroad.

On our part, we will continue to take care of the well-being of our officers, as only with each and every Home Team officer putting in his best will we be able to make Singapore a safe and secure best home for Singaporeans.

Ms Sylvia Lim (Non-Constituency Member): Sir, three supplementary questions for the Minister. Firstly, could the Minister tell us in the Human Factors Study that was conducted, whether there was actually an optimum number of officers recommended and, despite the manpower increase, have we actually reached that number?

Secondly, it was reported in the Straits Times today about the Public Transport Security Command (TransCom) that the unit comprised 400 officers,

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mainly full-time NSmen. I am wondering whether that indicates that there is a shortage of full-time officers as compared to NSmen to go into the unit and how do we ensure that the NSmen are properly supervised when they deal with the public on public transport.

Lastly, Sir, as pointed out, if the workload continues to increase, all these measures will still not be enough. Does the Government actually moderate the number of major events that are held in Singapore every year to ensure that we can actually cope with the demands?

Mr Shanmugam: Sir, the aim of the study was to identify what would be the kind of stresses and situations that the Home Team officers can bear, what sort of, say, cancellation of leave is acceptable, how many hours continuously should they work and not beyond that. Those were the aims of the study and to also understand what were the stresses and fatigue that they were facing and how these can be dealt with. As to what would be the optimal number, there is an interplay not just of the issues I have identified but also of externalities, including population ratios, issues like the number of incidents you can expect, depending on the type and nature of the population. So, that is a combination which the Police Force as well as Home Affairs Ministry would continuously be looking at. We were under-staffed – there is no doubt about that – and that is why I gave the Member the figures as to how we are increasing staffing, and we will continue to do so. But we have to be mindful that you can put in a lot more resources but really the way to go is to make sure that the Home Team's core focus is not diluted, which is safety and security, and that is a two-way process not just for us to have focus but for the public to understand it as well. For example, the Police Force should not really be involved in snake catching nor should it be involved in settling disputes

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between neighbours. We refer more and more of these disputes to mediation. You do not need highly-trained police officers to deal with these situations. But if the public expects that, then we will need infinite resources, which is not good for society and not good for us. The focus has to be moving into technology. Of course, you are going to need the frontline officers. We will need more officers - we are working towards it – but, again, the type and quality of officers needed for the Home Team have to be of a certain cut. So, we will continue to employ and we have not reached the optimal number, but that is a dynamic process. Certainly, we are working very hard at the specific issues that were identified by the Human Factor Study. As indicators and proxies, I give the Members issues like how much leave was cancelled, how many times they have been called back, what are their responses and feedback, and so on.

The second question is about TransCom. The Member has read that it comprised mainly of NS officers. She asked: does that indicate that we do not have enough officers and do the NS officers have the adequate training to deal with members of the public? TransCom has been one of the main recipients of the officers who have been recently recruited. But we only deploy NS officers if we believe that they have the adequate training and they can deal with members of the public. NS officers are deployed not just in TransCom but in many other operational areas for years and years and years. So far, as Members know, by and large, there have been no issues. But we will make sure that our NS officers are given the best possible training. In any kind of organisational human contact, you must expect some issues to arise and it is not always the fault with one party or the other. In a dynamic interaction, it could be due to the situation and circumstance.

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We have to deal with it by training and also with the public becoming more understanding of what is happening on the ground.

As regards the third question, if I got it right, the Member was suggesting that, perhaps, there are many mega events which are imposing increasing strains on the Police Force and should the Government be doing anything to moderate them. I am not quite sure if the Member is suggesting that perhaps we should reduce the number of mega events. So, should we not have Youth Olympic Games or is the suggestion that we should not have APEC in Singapore? We have to do an assessment. Does this benefit Singapore? We showcase Singapore, and we make it an international and a global city. Economically, it is very important; politically, it is very important. And it is an important event to put Singapore across on the global stage. So the approach has to be that all of Singapore should come together to promote and make sure that these events are a success. Not quite sure we take the approach that the Home Team's resources are limited and therefore we should not go into these events.

Ms Sylvia Lim: Sir, one clarification and one supplementary question. The clarification is regarding the deployment of NSF in TransCom. My question actually was relating to the report that it is made up mostly of full-time NSmen. Of course, I am fully aware that NSmen are present in other units but usually they will work together with the regular officers. So, that is the clarification.

Sir, regarding the issue of major events, I understand that for the YOG, for example, right now, there is a force-wide leave freeze on officers during this period. My question is: how many times in a year would be reasonable for us to have that kind of deployment order to be fair to the Home Team? I would like to know

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whether the Minister agrees that there would be a limit to how far we can have such force-wide leave freezes every year.

Mr Shanmugam: Sir, I think the main thrust or bulk of my entire answer was focused on the fact that we cannot expect Home Team officers to have leave cancellations and leave freezes at the same level that we had in previous years. For example, I pointed out that from a cancellation of 41% in 2007, it had come down significantly in 2009 to about 20%. So, that was the whole purpose of the Human Factor Study, ie, to identify what is the optimal level at which people can work, what is the maximum stress that we can impose on them, and what kind of sacrifices we can expect. I entirely accept the Member's point. But I do not think, therefore, one can draw the conclusion that since there is a force-wide leave freeze for YOG, do these events impose major strains? Of course, they impose major strains, but the way to deal with it is to see what kind of resources we need and to make sure the officers can recover from this particular leave freeze. That is the approach we take. For that, we need adequate manpower resources. We also need to focus more on our core activities, as I pointed out. The expectations the public have on the Force have also got to be modified to better understand what the Police Force's core objectives are. And for us, it is to use more technology.