Singapore’s
New Crime Fighter
Life
is getting harder, criminals may be forgiven for complaining
these days. They’re facing a new foe who rarely
falls sick, isn’t paid a salary.
Mar 20, 2001
Faced
with regional instability and the prospect of a new
generation of clever crooks, the police is turning
to a new source who works round the clock to combat
crime.
It
started a decade ago from the simple closed circuit
camera and urine detector before ending up with the
completion (two years ago) of a project for all police
patrol cars to have laptops.
The
police is stepping up the use of technology in its
work.
With
the rise of regional violence and poverty threatening
to unleash a nightmarish influx of illegal immigrants,
Singapore is pushing this usage to a higher level.
By
the end of this year, mobile X-ray machines will be
stationed at the border checkpoints with Malaysia
(Woodlands and Tuas) to detect smuggled people, drugs
and contraband hidden in vehicles.
Sophisticated
radars and heat-detecting cameras have also been acquired
to help detect illegal immigrants. These are some
of the high tech equipment bought by the police to
tackle this security problem.
Another
reason is the new type of tech-savvy crooks, who are
making use of the Internet to peddle drugs, recruit
gang members and molest or rape young girls.
Police
arrested a 19-year-old who used a web chat-room to
sell Ecstasy, a banned drug last year. A month ago,
two more youths were caught for the same offence.
Home
Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng said: "It means
that we have to fight a different breed of criminals
– those who leverage on technology to carry out
their crimes," Wong said.
His
ministry has invested on new equipment such as enhanced
radar and opto-electronic surveillance system.
The
crimes of the future would not be restricted by earthly
boundaries, but committed in cyberspace, said Chief
Justice Yong Pung How.
When
the electronic forms of money became widespread, offences
such as cheating, theft and even money laundering
would appear in a new form, he added.
The
Attorney-General’s Chambers has set up specialised
units to handle prosecution of corruption and other
complex crimes like money laundering.
The
immediate priority, however, is to stop foreigners
coming in illegally for work or commit a crime.
Last
week eight illegal Myanmar nationals jumped off a
speedboat near the Causeway and swam ashore to a deserted
spot. Unknown to them, they had been filmed by closed
circuit cameras and promptly arrested on arrival.
A
string of US-made Electro-Optic cameras, which cost
S$8 million, that are using infrared technology and
can detect boats at night using thermal sensors, have
been installed along Singapore’s quieter coastlines.
A
major point was reached two years ago when all police
cars were fitted with computers that allow officers
to retrieve critical data instantly even when they
are on the move.
The
men in blue now find some of their investigative work
cut out for them on the streets. They have access
to crucial information on wanted criminals, descriptions
of suspects and details of missing teens or stolen
cars.
These
computers are linked to a central information base.
Two other modern methods: -
•
allow for fingerprints to be scanned electronically
at a crime scene and matched against the database
of known criminals immediately, and
•
enable police to photograph suspicious people digitally
and transmit the pictures, while on the move, to be
checked for criminal records.
The
police will set up a DNA database later this year.
DNA profiles lifted at crime scenes can be matched
against those stored in the database, an investigation
system using artificial intelligence.
"For
example, a video camera could be set up to monitor
a check-point. With facial recognition features, the
camera would be able to check the faces of people
going past against a database and notify the authorities
if it found a criminal.," said a research spokesman.
Closed
circuit cameras are a common sight in this small city.
They are seen in lifts, near ATM machines, mounted
on buildings to detect "killer" litter and
on public places to spot mosquitoes.
So
far, there have no complaints of intruding on privacy.
Most people accept it as good for crime prevention.
"Sometimes
people get upset not because they are being watched,
but because they don't know they are being watched.
There should be clear signs to tell people they are
being watch," said one community leader.
"We
cannot do manual monitoring around the clock so we
need the cameras. we all pay a price for security.
That price is privacy," he added.
Even
private citizens resort to hidden cameras to catch
shoe thieves, arsonists or vandals who scratch their
cars. And a few employers have them in work areas
to discourage workers from wasting too much time at
the water cooler.
One
private detective began to use satellite technology
five years ago to track vehicles such as taxis, trail
cheating spouses and pilfering employees. A compact
receiver hidden inside the vehicle gives its agents
a fix on its position via the US 24-satellite Global
Positioning System.
The
most enthusiastic user of high-tech are – who
else – the police. Investigators routinely log
into a system that enables speedy preparation and
distribution of identikit pictures, constructed from
victims’ or witnesses’ descriptions.
Victims of crime no longer have to suffer five long
hours at the police station, describing laboriously
how the crook looked.
For
more than 20 years, the police have used paper cut-outs
of facial characteristics to prepare a criminal’s
black-and-white Identikit picture. It is then touched
up printed and distributed to all officers and divisions
who take days.
Now
a S$200,000 computer system allows them to recreate
these portraits of suspects in just two hours –
in full colour. It has another intelligence feature
- voice-print analysis.
It
can even identify a victim of an accident even where
part of his face has been disfigured.
Despite
the high tech world, one ironic fact remains. Some
Singaporeans are still being cheated by con-men using
"magic stones", believing they can really
turn paper into real money.
Is
there a high-tech solution for it, anyone?
Seah
Chiang Nee
