April - June 2010 - Bureau of Police Research and Development

Singapore Community Policing ExperimentInadequacies of NPPsA key feature of the NPP system is acompartmentalization of functions. Each officerhandles only a small piece of the entire serviceprocess. This limits the contribution of the officers.It also dilutes the ownership over the case. The NPPofficers' local knowledge is not tapped always in thecases, as their participation at the crime scene isonly transient. Further, crime victims are alsoinconvenienced and may even get confused withthe service delivery due to the internal inefficienciesin police work processes.In October, 1997, the Singapore Police Force made asignificant and bold move to re-design the NPP systemin a bid to strengthen its community policing approach,in the light of changing environment and factors. TheNeighbourhood Policing Centre (NPCs) system hasNeighbourhood policing Centre (NPC) has now beencreated to improve and enhance community policing.NPCs will be the sole vehicle for frontline policing toensure the community's safety and security. The NPCwill also be accountable for the total outcome ofpolicing in the community.Emergence of NPC as the instrument for policingservices means that NPP will cease to be thesub-unit of a bigger police unit. Officers manning theNPPs will come from NPC itself. More attention andtime is accorded to proactive functions in NPP system.In order to deliver decentralized, flexible, integratedand community-focused capabilities, the existingstructure and land divisions of the NPPs will bemodified. NPCs will be accountable for the totaloutcome of policing in the community. It will serveas centers of total policing and perform duties likeNPP SystemCommunity policing post with limited servicesDisparity in workload due to electoral basedboundariesGeneral services to attract residents andestablish points of contact.Low value tasks and narrow job scopeCompartmentalization of services with manyoffices each performing a separate taskLower priority on proactive workCommunity-based policingTable-1: Key Differences between NPP and NPCNPC SystemOne-stop total providing the full range of policingservice.More efficient pooling of manpower resourcesto serve the community manpower resourcesto serve the communityFocused on services that are critical to safetyand securityHigh valued, broad job challenge, better qualityofficersIntegrated service process with one NPCofficer handling the entire service processDedicated resources for proactive workcommunity focused policing.now been created to enhance the community policingapproach by strengthening the SPFs frontline operatingsystem, building a strong service organization andoptimizing the value contributed by each police force,to the policing process.reactive patrol and investigations as well as proactivepolice activities. The basic unit of the NPCsis a group of those front line officers led by agroup leader. This group of officers undertakesthe entire range of different police responsibilities.16 ➢ The Indian Police Journal Vol. LVII-No. 2, April-June, 2010