Volunteers to patrol train stations to prevent crimes, amid more molestations on public transport

SINGAPORE - Amid more reports of molestations on public transport, there will soon be volunteers patrolling train stations to help prevent crimes.

The Singapore Police Force has piloted a plan for volunteers from community programme Citizens on Patrol (Cop) to patrol train stations about once a month, in addition to the areas they usually cover such as void decks and parks.

The volunteers will help the police keep a lookout for suspicious characters and distribute crime prevention pamphlets at the train stations.

This move comes as molestations on public transport increased by 43.8 per cent to 105 cases in the first half of this year, up from 73 cases from the same period last year, according to mid-year crime statistics released by the police on Thursday (Aug 23).

"With more people helping us to do surveillance, this definitely serves as additional deterrence, as the police cannot be omnipresent at all MRT stations," said Superintendent of Police Alan Wong, head of operations for public transport security command.

"Even though the Cop group's presence is only once a month, but if you look at it islandwide, if we start to do that, the presence in MRT stations would be greatly enhanced," said Supt Wong.

For a start, volunteers will first be accompanied by police officers during their patrols in the MRT stations, and they will walk along the platforms or around the gantry areas, said Supt Wong.

Volunteers will also be given additional training by police officers to know what to look out for.

A pilot run was done on Aug 13 by a Cop group from Queenstown's Mei Ling Zone Residential Committee. There are plans to roll this out to the more than 700 existing Cop groups islandwide.

Volunteers that The Straits Times spoke to supported the plan, saying they could reach out to more residents, given the higher footfall at train stations.

Commuters that they approached had stopped to listen once they introduced themselves, said volunteer Chua Mei Ting, 35. She was part of the group of volunteers who carried out the pilot run at Queenstown MRT station.

Given the high traffic at train stations, volunteers could also pick the right people to approach, said Madam Chua, a housewife. "For example, to prevent molestation, I will distribute more pamphlets to females," she said.

She added that on their usual patrols around void decks, volunteers "don't have the luxury of choosing", as there are usually few people to approach.

She said: "You just want to make sure that the place is a safe place to be in."