Home Team officers, agencies lauded for dedication and innovation in keeping Singapore safe

SINGAPORE – The Central Narcotics Bureau in 2024 dismantled three overseas drug syndicates and seized more than 160kg of drugs, resulting in the arrests of 89 drug traffickers, including three syndicate leaders based overseas.

In the first half of 2025, the police and their partners also disrupted 30,000 scam websites.

Revealing this on Oct 29, Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said at the Minister for Home Affairs awards presentation ceremony that Singapore will continue to invest significantly in the Home Team by building new capabilities and services, and adopting new technology to make the country safer and more secure.

Mr Shanmugam, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security, said: “You know, we talk about law and order, it is not something top of the mind for Singaporeans – for good reason, because the law and order situation is stable, and therefore over a long period of time, Singaporeans have been conditioned not to even think about it.

“But good law and order is an essential condition for Singaporeans to lead a decent day-to-day life... We know that an effective, respected, credible Home Team is vital for Singapore to succeed.”

Held at the Home Team Academy, the awards ceremony saw 130 Home Team officers, teams and agencies lauded for demonstrating efficiency and competency in major operations or projects, including displaying high standards of innovation and service excellence.

Law Minister Edwin Tong and Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim were present to give out the awards, which come in four categories.

The Home Team Achievement Award recognises those who achieved exceptional outcomes through inter-agency collaboration and contributed significantly towards keeping Singapore safe and secure.

The Operational Excellence (OE) Award rewards outstanding competency and operational excellence in major operations and cases.

The Home Team Innovation Award (InnovA) is given to exceptional teams and officers in the area of innovation.

Finally, the Star Service Award (SSA) recognises officers who delivered outstanding service and exceeded customers’ expectations.

Distinguished SSA recipient Lieutenant Dylan Doo, from the Singapore Civil Defence Force Central Fire Station, was lauded for spearheading several innovative projects.

His achievements included partnering the National University Hospital trauma team on the Foreign Worker Outreach Programme to impart first aid skills and teach workers how to respond to worksite injuries.

When attending to serious worksite injury accidents, LTA Doo, 29, said he “saw a gap”.

“A lot of the time when we go to the scene, the injured worker is placed on the ground (or) he is moved elsewhere, which is not recommended as that could be detrimental to the patient’s health,” he said. He and his team also created a basic task manual on stretcher safety for paramedics.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Gan Hong Teck was awarded the InnovA for creating the Singapore Police Force’s next-generation investigation case management system.

Known as Crimes3, and developed collaboratively with the Home Team Science & Technology Agency (HTX), it has transformed how police officers conduct criminal investigations by providing seamless collaboration between different teams and taps data to support decision-making.

DSP Gan, 37, who works in the investigation policy section at the Criminal Investigation Department, said investigation processes a decade ago were largely manual, and investigation documentation was mainly in the form of hard copy.

There were hardly any digital solutions, which meant there were plenty of repetitive and laborious tasks, he noted. “A significant amount of time was spent on administrative matters in addition to investigative work.”

Recalling how he helped to improve the system, DSP Gan said: “Equipped with a degree in information systems and the desire to improve investigative work processes, I jumped at the opportunity to join the project team back in 2018 and embarked on the journey of digital transformation for the investigation fraternity.”

The prolific officer was also behind a mobile application known as Mobile Crime Scene Investigation, which makes it easier to carry out on-scene investigations.

The app saves time and manpower by helping with documentation, evidence capture and statement recording.

Describing his achievement as a team effort, DSP Gan said: “None of it would have been possible without the support of my teammates and partners.”

Mr Muhammad Anwar Jalil, an engineer from HTX, received the OE Award for conceiving SafeX, a system powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and developed by HTX’s Platform Systems Capability Sustainment and Q Team Centre of Expertise.

Through AI, SafeX analyses real-time CCTV footage and detects unsafe acts or workers not wearing personal protective equipment.

First piloted at the Police Coast Guard marine workshop in Pulau Brani, the system alerts supervisors via a messaging app when it detects lapses in safety.

Mr Anwar, 37, said: “By implementing this kind of system and to show that it works, it helps to improve safety and the recognition is rewarding.”