SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE: HIRING OF POLICE OFFICERS

WE THANK Mr Syed Abdul Muneef Syed Muhammad for his suggestions (“Quality over quantity when hiring police officers”; last Monday).

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) will not compromise our recruitment standards as we actively recruit more officers.

We recognise the need to not only hire more officers but to also ensure that those whom we recruit have the right motivation, values and attributes to serve the community and keep Singapore safe and secure.

As rightly pointed out by Mr Syed Abdul Muneef, paper qualifications alone do not ensure that officers know what to do in a crisis. While academic results are widely used as a gauge of a candidate’s cognitive ability, they are but only one of the requirements the SPF considers when assessing a candidate’s suitability to be a police officer.

Our recruitment process involves a holistic assessment of candidates and their attributes, such as a good track record, and work experience, as well as personal values and qualities like critical thinking and communication skills.

Beyond this, the SPF also ensures that recruited officers are able to carry out their duties effectively through a robust six-month training programme for police officers and nine months for senior officers.

We will continue to recruit good candidates from various talent pools, such as graduating students from the polytechnics and junior colleges, and mid-career job switchers, to meet our manpower requirements.

We assure Mr Syed Abdul Muneef that quality will never be compromised during our selection process. Those who wish to consider a career with the SPF can visit our website at www.spf.gov.sg/career/

Ho Yenn Dar (Superintendent)

Assistant Director

Public Communications

Public Affairs Department

Singapore Police Force