DIT officers broaden horizons in Singapore
To implement one of the recommendations by the Force Study Team on Recruitment and Retention of Crime Officers at District Level, Crime Wing has organised an Overseas and Mainland Study Visit Programme to boost the professionalism and personal qualities of frontline crime officers, and to widen their vision for long-term career development in the Force.
The programme had a promising start with a study visit to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) from September 19 to 22 by a Force delegation comprising two Inspectors, two Sergeants and ten Police Constables from District Investigation Teams (DIT), led by Chief Inspector Chau Hin-hung. As this is the first study visit under the programme, Chief Superintendent (Crime Headquarters) Yu Mun-sang accompanied the delegation to Singapore and took the opportunity to pay courtesy calls on the senior management of SPF to thank them for hosting the delegation and fortifying the long-term co-operation between the two Forces.
The delegation was greeted by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Goh Lam-kiong, Assistant Director, CID, at the airport on September 19, followed by a welcome dinner hosted by SPF, where delegation members built up valuable networks with their host.
The official programme started following an in-depth introduction of the Singapore CID by Senior Assistant Commissioner Hoong Wee-teck, Director of CID, in Police Cantonment Complex, headquarters of Singapore CID. Delegation members then attended presentations delivered by different branches of CID in the complex, including Specialised Crime Branch, Secret Society Branch, Forensic Management Branch, Technology Crime Division and Unlicensed Money-lending Strikeforce, during which they exchanged views with their SPF counterparts on the challenges of fighting crimes and discussed the strategies adopted.
Delegation members also enjoyed a number of interesting visits. During the visit to the Casino Crime Investigation Branch, which was newly established by SPF, they were briefed on the strategies and preventive measures to deal with casino centric-crimes. They also spent half a day at the School of Criminal Investigation in Home Team Academy, where all crime investigators and disciplinary forces in Singapore are trained, observing the innovative training facilities in the Academy.
Besides CID headquarters units, the members also visited the frontline investigation branch in one of the six Land Divisions of SPF, Ang Mo Kio Police Division, which has jurisdiction over about one-third of the residential population in Singapore (1.4 million). Head of the investigation branch, Superintendent David Li, introduced the structure, functions and responsibilities of a frontline investigation team, General Investigation Squad, which closely resembles the Force's DIT or DVIT. In return, delegation members introduced the structure and work of DIT and DVIT to their counterparts in the division.
A delegation member, Woman Detective Police Constable Leung Yuen-yiu, has this to say about the study visit: "Our delegation and CID counterparts in Singapore do share the view that detectives all over the world are like family members having the same vision of building a safer global community through crime detection. Throughout the visit, I developed a sense of pride of being a detective and became more confident in meeting upcoming challenges to my police career."
"The visit not only provided a precious opportunity for frontline DIT and DVIT officers to travel overseas to share knowledge and experience with their SPF counterparts, but also gave us a better understanding of detective work, which is tough yet challenging, and protracted but meaningful," said Detective Inspector Fung Pui-kei.
Besides
attending a series of seminars, the DIT officers also visit some
tourist spots at the invitation of their host