Home Team Academy to train officers with updated technology, including virtual shooting range
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A demonstration of a shoot-or-no-shoot scenario during a media preview at the Home Team Academy on Sept 7.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
- The Home Team Academy is upgrading training with virtual reality, a virtual shooting range, and AI to prepare officers for complex, fast-changing threats and diverse work environments.
- AI will support personalised learning and automate assessments, allowing trainers to focus on coaching critical thinking and human judgement, ensuring responsible AI use.
- The HTA campus will add new facilities, including an indoor running track and a revamped Home Team Gallery, which opens to the public in December with interactive exhibits and AI avatars.
AI generated
SINGAPORE – Training facilities at the Home Team Academy (HTA) will be updated with the development of a virtual shooting range, and a training village with virtual- and augmented-reality capabilities.
The academy, which marks its 20th anniversary in 2026, will also tap artificial intelligence to enhance training for officers from agencies such as the Singapore Police Force, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, the Central Narcotics Bureau and the Internal Security Department.
Providing details of the changes at the opening of HTA’s workplan seminar on Sept 8, Minister for Law Edwin Tong said the updated training programmes will equip officers with enhanced skills amid an operating environment that is becoming more dynamic and challenging.
“Threats are more digital, transnational and fast-moving,” he said. “Public expectations are higher. Technology is changing how officers work and respond, the tools they have, and our workforce is becoming more diverse.”
Minister for Law Edwin Tong said the updated training programmes will equip officers with enhanced skills.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
In this regard, training must keep pace with operational demands, technological change, evolving threats and new ways of working, said Tong, who is also Second Minister for Home Affairs.
He outlined key areas where training will be transformed, and highlighted virtual and immersive training. “HTA will make greater use of virtual and immersive training to provide realistic, scalable and safe learning environments,” he said. “The Home Team Virtual Shooting Range will complement live shooting and allow officers to train with realistic weapon replicas, recoil and sound.”
HTA said the virtual range will enable officers to sharpen their decision-making skills under pressure with the shoot-or-no-shoot scenarios. The enhanced training village will allow officers to repeat critical drills in realistic scenarios. HTA will also use AI to support content creation, automate assessments and deliver personalised learning.
Minister for Law Edwin Tong (centre, right) and Home Team Academy chief executive Wilson Lim (centre, left) viewing a model of the Home Team Academy on Sept 8.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
“Used well, it can really help our trainers focus on coaching, critical thinking and professional judgment,” said Tong. “These are still areas where you need the human in the loop, where the human judgment, instinct and intuition is a lot more important. Therefore, AI must be used responsibly.”
HTA will also be launching an incident management simulation system that enables officers from different Home Team departments to train together in complex scenarios.
An installation documenting the Home Team’s response to major accidents, disasters and healthcare crises in Singapore is displayed in Zone 3, titled Test of Mettle.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Tong said the HTA campus will also be refreshed with new facilities, such as an indoor running track at its new IPPT centre, and a revamped Home Team Gallery.
During a tour of exhibits at the academy, Tong tried his hand at virtual shooting, and he visited the revamped Home Team Gallery.
The renovated gallery has seven zones that illustrate the different facets of the Home Team, and features updated artefacts, AI avatars and multimedia game stations.
An old wooden police baton and other historical items on display at the Home Team Gallery.
ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO
Another section of the gallery features AI avatars of current and former Home Team officers, who share their experiences from their service.
One of the featured officers is Deputy Superintendent (DSP) (1) (Ret) Morton Jr William Adam, who was a prison officer in the 1970s. Morton, who retired in 2004, was involved in several high-profile cases, such as the escort of serial killer John Martin Scripps and the individuals linked to the 1971 gold-bar murders.
He also established the Special Action Prisons Unit, which was renamed Singapore Prisons Emergency Action Response, or SPEAR.
The gallery features an AI avatar of his younger self, created with a photo taken in 2001. Morton, 76, said the avatar continues the work he did in his younger days. “I’m very proud that what I have achieved has been brought to light.”
The Home Team Gallery will be open to the public from Dec 1.
More information on how to book an appointment to visit the Home Team Gallery will be available in November, said HTA.
