With the nature of crime changing, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean stressed on the importance of keeping up to date with technological advancements to stay ahead of crime.
There has been an increase in the use of technology for criminal activities such as credit card fraud and ATM skimming.
Some recent incidents were the DBS ATM frauds in January and February this year. Hundreds of unauthorised withdrawals were made from customers' bank accounts of up to a combined estimate sum of more than $1 million.
According to the Singapore Police Force's Crime Situation Report for 2011, the overall crime rate fell by 7 per cent to 606 cases per 100,000 population. This is the lowest crime rate registered for the past 20 years.
"To sustain this level of safety and security in Singapore, we need to plan and prepare ourselves to stay ahead of crime, build deeper partnerships with the community and sustain the trust of the community," said Mr Teo at yesterday's Singapore Police Force Workplan Seminar.
He added that they needed to position themselves for the future as the things the police have done well before may not be enough to deal with new challenges.
Traditional criminal syndicates now use technology to work across geographical boundaries and hide their identities more easily.
The CID is working to make better use of technology by introducing new tools under their Technology Crime Forensics Roadmap.
"This will ensure that their ability to recover data from damaged devices and to analyse video images keeps pace with what technology can offer", Mr Teo added.
Another initiative was the Home Team School of Criminal Investigation. It was set up in July last year, at the Home Team Academy, to provide training to keep officers up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies.
The school will embark on a project to use virtual crime scenes for more realistic hands-on experience.
The seminar also had an exhibition showcasing the latest tools, innovations and prototypes of new crime-fighting equipment. One prototype is the enhanced Neighbourhood Police Post that has an electronic kiosk that allows the public to lodge reports 24/7.
Technology not just equips offices with more crime fighting tools, but in the long run, it will increase productivity allowing officers to focus more on crime fighting.
natlim@sph.com.sg
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