CRIME INVESTIGATION AND CONTROL (Clearance rate for criminal offences)

Mr Goh Chee Wee asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what was the clearance rate of all the criminal offences committed in Singapore in 1980, 1981, and 1982; and (b) what measures his Ministry will take to improve the effectiveness of crime investigation and control.

The Minister for Home Affairs (Mr Chua Sian Chin): Mr Speaker, Sir, the overall clearance rate for criminal cases in Singapore is as follows: 1980 28%; 1981 33%; 1982 29%.

Our overall clearance rate for criminal cases is comparable to that of other highly developed countries in the world. For example, the overall clearance rate in Australia is 28.5%, Denmark is 23.2%, and the United States of America is 19.5%. However, among the developed countries Japan has achieved the highest overall clearance rate of 63.8%. This has been attributed to their koban system of policing. The koban police is responsible for more than 60% of the total number of criminal cases cleared in Japan. The Japanese koban police has been able to do this because of the excellent relationship they have with the residents in the neighbourhood, which is based on complete confidence and trust. As a result, the Japanese police has no difficulty in getting information on the presence of criminals, of crimes committed and getting the residents to be witnesses. Therefore, to improve the effectiveness of crime investigation and control, and thus the clearance rate of cases, it is not only necessary to upgrade the professional skills of police officers in crime investigation but, what is even more important, to forge a relationship of mutual trust and confidence between the police and the public so that members of the public will not hesitate to help the police in their investigations. NPP System

The most important measure that my Ministry will take to achieve this objective is the introduction of the Neighbourhood Police Post (NPP) System. The NPP System is modelled after the Japanese koban system. It will ensure that police officers will always be close to all the residents and continually interact with them. An important feature of the NPP System is the home visit by NPP officers every six months to get to know the residents, listen to their views and suggestions and to offer their services. With the establishment of trust in the police officers, we can expect the vast majority of the residents to come forward to freely confide in the police officers and to volunteer information on the presence of criminals and strangers behaving suspiciously in the neighbourhood.

Crime Prevention

The Police, however, is not relying solely on the NPP System to achieve the aim of total involvement with the community and its grassroots organizations. In the last two years, the first steps towards this objective have been taken with the introduction of the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme (NWS), the establishment of the National Crime Prevention Council and the formation of Boys' Clubs. The Crime Prevention Department has also made surveys of commercial premises with a view to advising the management and occupiers to get together to form crime prevention committees and implement crime prevention measures.

Upgrading of Skills

The Police is also upgrading the professional skills of police officers in criminal investigation and other crime control activities. A team of British experts was asked to look into ways and means of improving the training facilities and the standard of instruction at the Police Academy. Many of their recommendations are now in the process of being implemented. Currently, the Police Academy runs many in-house courses on criminal investigation. Our crime investigators are also sent overseas for specialized training and attachments to learn new skills, particularly those relating to the investigation of commercial crime. Computerization

To enhance the effectiveness of the Force in crime control, the Police is also implementing large scale computerization and mechanization of police operations. Command and control of patrol resources will be computerized by 1985. This computerized system will optimize the deployment of patrols and the allocation of resources in response to calls for Police assistance. Case management will be computerized by 1986 to ensure quicker processing and closer monitoring of crime cases.

Besides these, the Police is also exploring other ways and means of mechanization and computerization such as in the lifting and matching of fingerprints and the collation of criminal intelligence. These will further help to improve the effectiveness of criminal investigations.