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.
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR (MEDIA RELATIONS DIVISION)
PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
07 November 2023 @ 8:43 PM