Specialised transit police unit marks its 10th year
TransCom team combats crime on public transport, now works closely with volunteers
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Mr Andy Tan (left) was the first commander of the Public Transport Security Command unit when it was set up 10 years ago to ensure the security of Singapore's mass rapid transit system. With him is Assistant Commissioner Koh Wei Keong, the unit's current commander.
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
Cara Wong
Unlike its counterparts in the land division, the police unit in charge of the security of MRT trains had no maps to refer to when navigating transport nodes a decade ago.
Instead, the Public Transport Security Command (TransCom) team had to map out every passageway in all the train stations and note down where each closed-circuit television camera was located.
The specialised unit of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) marks its 10th anniversary this year.
It was set up after the 2005 terror attacks on London's public transport system, when the authorities decided that a dedicated unit was needed to understand and navigate the complex underground terrain, recalled Mr Andy Tan, 49, the unit's commander from 2009 to 2011.
"When we started, we didn't even have directories of how the different MRT stations link together with the malls," said Mr Tan in a media interview yesterday.
"Can you imagine trying to pursue criminals, but nobody knows which way is (right)?"
Besides mapping out the terrain, TransCom also evolved from having a counter-terrorism focus to preventing and combating crimes committed on public transport, said Mr Tan, who now works in another SPF department.
A particularly memorable case during Mr Tan's time as TransCom commander occurred in 2010, when vandals cut through SMRT's Changi depot fence and spray-painted graffiti on a train.
Mr Tan's team reviewed security footage at the depot, and the two vandals were identified.
The current TransCom team, which comprises mainly full-time national servicemen (NSFs), has been trained to respond to common crimes on public transport, including molestation, upskirting and theft, said its current commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police Koh Wei Keong.
26,000 Number of volunteers recruited since the Riders-on-Watch scheme's launch in July. Volunteers are alerted through text messages from the police to keep a lookout for persons of interest or people who need help.
Officers often find it hard to be under constant public scrutiny while on the streets all day long, he said.
AC Koh noted that a recent incident, in which TransCom officers were perceived to have stopped two madrasah students for checks to fulfil a quota, was wrongly portrayed. Photographs of the officers speaking to the two girls were circulated online with the false allegations, but the officers were actually speaking to them about joining a TransCom community initiative, Riders-on-Watch, he said.
The Riders-on-Watch scheme has seen about 26,000 volunteers recruited since its launch in July.
The volunteers are alerted through text messages from the police to keep a lookout for persons of interest or people who need help.
"With a dwindling pool of (NSFs), we need the community's help all the more in the years to come," said AC Koh.
Volunteers may be asked to take on bigger roles in the future, such as making joint patrols with TransCom officers, or acting as "contingency responders" to help officers in situations such as mass evacuations, when "the more hands we have, the better it is", said AC Koh.
