We trace the history of female Police officers who’ve taken on riot control duties through the decades!
By: Low Ee Ching, Christabelle Lim and ASP Ngai Kuo En
In October 1980, the first all-female Women’s Task Force was formed. The predecessor of this Task Force was a women’s Police Reserve Unit from the 1960s known as the “D” Troop.
Following a strict selection process, a pioneering cohort of about 40 female officers from the various Divisional headquarters and the Traffic Police underwent rigorous training at the Police Task Force One base in Mount Vernon for one month. The female officers trained alongside their male counterparts and were skilled in riot drills such as charging in and breaking up illegal demonstrations with minimal physical force.
After this pioneering group of officers had completed their training, they returned to their regular duties in their respective units. They were ready to be activated for riot duty if the need arose and attended yearly refresher stints to remain operationally ready.
Special Women Task Team of the SOC
The early pioneers paved the way for the Special Women Task Team (SWTT) of today. Formed in 2007, the SWTT is made up of female officers from various land divisions and specialist departments who take on a secondary appointment as specialist riot control officers, boosting the SOC's capabilities.
SWTT officers are trained in specialised public order tactics and undergo a rigorous selection course to test their resilience, resolve, critical thinking skills and teamwork. One of their roles is to safely extract women, children and the elderly who are assessed to be in a vulnerable situation in large-scale events, should the crowd turn rowdy and violent.
The SWTT works closely with Divisional Tactical Teams and the SOC’s Police Tactical Unit and regularly participates in public order exercises to better prepare officers to respond to any public order incidents.
Read on to find out about the Crisis Negotiation Unit, the UN Peacekeeping Force, the K-9 Unit and the STAR Unit of the SOC!
Explore Our Content
Editor's Pick
