Singapore police work with partners to raise community preparedness: Faishal

SINGAPORE – The Singapore Police Force (SPF) works closely with community partners, including places of worship, to raise the level of community preparedness, Minister of State for Home Affairs Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim told The Straits Times.

Associate Professor Faishal was responding to a question by ST in the wake of a

knife attack on a priest at a Bukit Timah church on Nov 9

.

The SPF engages partners through various activities, including ground deployment exercises, said Prof Faishal at the end of one such exercise on Nov 18.

Exercise Heartbeat, a counter-terrorism and emergency preparedness exercise, was held at ITE College West in Choa Chu Kang.

There were more than 40 participants from the SPF and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), role players and student volunteers from ITE College West.

Several security-related exercises have been conducted in the community by the Home Team since 2015. Exercise Heartbeat has been held annually for more than a decade.

The exercise at the Institute of Technical Education began with a security officer finding an abandoned bag with wires sticking out of it near a lift at the carpark. The area was immediately cordoned off.

Students were told to keep away, but a lone man grabbed the suspicious bag and made a dash towards the students, “detonating” the bag’s explosive contents.

The carpark quickly became chaotic as smoke filled the area where the “bomb” had gone off. On the ground, role players acted as injured students wailing in pain.

While scenes similar to this may have actually played out in any number of countries, the loud sound of pyrotechnics and blanks being fired made the experience “real” for Civil Defence Lionhearters Club members who provided first aid before the arrival of police and SCDF paramedics.

Five Lionhearters Club volunteers took part in the exercise.

Said Ms Lim Yi Hui, 20, a facilities management student: “I was quite shocked from the sudden explosion... but when I got to an ‘injured’ student, I focused on bandaging her ‘bleeding’ arm.”

Ms Lim is among 40 students from ITE College West who are Lionhearters Club volunteers.

While dispensing first aid during the exercise may seem easy, the volunteers did so while dodging gunfire from four “terrorists” who appeared in a white sedan.

Mr Daryl Chin, president of ITE College West’s Lionhearters Club, said he had to take cover behind a pillar while reassuring an “injured” student.

Such exercises test the club members’ readiness as first responders. They are trained not only in first aid but also to help the authorities by applying SGSecure key advisories, such as “Press, Tie, Tell”, prior to the arrival of the SPF and SCDF.

Said Mr Chin, 19: “For us, it’s very crucial because sometimes saving a life is more about (what you do) in the first few minutes... and I’m glad we can help.”

In Exercise Heartbeat, the Ground Response Force of the SPF was the first to arrive on the scene. It was followed by more heavily armed police officers from the Emergency Response Team who engaged and “defeated” two gunmen in the carpark.

Once the carpark was secured, SCDF paramedics wearing Kevlar helmets and ballistic resistant vests were allowed to approach and extract the injured students under police escort.

Nearby, SCDF paramedics had set up a triage area with colour-coded groundsheets to denote the severity of injuries suffered by the students before they were taken to hospital.

Said Prof Faishal: “This iteration of Exercise Heartbeat saw the Jurong Police Division working with ITE College West to conduct a simulated exercise within the school premises to ensure that our youth remain alert to terror threats and are aware of the roles they can play when such an incident happens.

“Everyone plays an important role in the fight against terrorism.” 

ITE College West principal Alice Seow said the institution’s collaboration with the SPF and SCDF reflects a shared commitment to community preparedness.

Referring to the Lionhearters Club members, Ms Seow said: “This exercise reinforces their understanding of preparedness in safeguarding the community, inspiring a culture of readiness that extends beyond the classroom.”

The second part of the exercise saw the police hunting down the remaining terrorists who had taken students hostage in a multipurpose hall.

With pistols pointed at the frightened students’ heads, the terrorists demanded that the police get them press coverage.

As negotiations looked like they were about to fail, a group of heavily armed police officers overwhelmed and shot the pair after stealthily entering the hall through a side entrance.

Exercise Heartbeat has previously been conducted at hotels, a lifestyle hub and a mall.