Certis CISCO made improvements to firearms return procedures after officer's suicide in 2020

SINGAPORE: After a Certis CISCO officer took his own life in 2020, the security firm improved its procedures for tracking issued firearms and ensuring their timely return, a coroner's inquiry has found.

In coroner's findings made available on Wednesday (Jul 20), State Coroner Adam Nakhoda ruled the death of Mr Elanko V Ganesan as a suicide and found that no foul play was involved.

Mr Elanko, 42, died of a gunshot wound to the head from his Certis CISCO-issued Taurus M85 revolver. His body was found by police at a car park in East Coast Park in the early morning of Sep 19, 2020.

The day before, the Malaysian man had drawn his revolver and 10 rounds of ammunition from Certis CISCO's armoury before leaving for a deployment with two colleagues.

Their deployment ended earlier by an hour, at about 10pm on Sep 18, 2020. The trio returned to the Certis CISCO Centre at about 10.10pm and Mr Elanko's two colleagues returned their firearms, but he did not.

Instead, Mr Elanko went to the male locker room alone, where he deliberately wore his jacket in such a way that it concealed his holstered revolver, said Judge Nakhoda.

He then left the Certis CISCO Centre at 10.30pm, scanning his staff pass as he left the building.

Mr Elanko next boarded a taxi to East Coast Park. There, he was last seen on camera walking towards a car park, where he loitered near a bin centre and he shot himself sometime after 10.54pm that night.

AFTER HE WENT MISSING

Judge Nakhoda found that Certis CISCO acted in a "timely and appropriate manner" by first trying to locate Mr Elanko and then notifying the police of the accident.

He noted that the security company had also looked into and enhanced its procedures since the incident.

Certis CISCO officers have one hour to return their firearms at the end of their duty, to account for unforeseen delays, ad hoc assignments and traffic jams, chief armourer Staff Sergeant Chiue Seng Yu told the coroner's inquiry.

This one-hour period started at the scheduled end time of the deployment and not the time the officer returned to the Certis CISCO Centre.

Mr Elanko's one-hour period therefore expired at midnight on Sep 19, 2020, even though he returned from duty ahead of the scheduled 11pm end time.

The Arms and Equipment Management System (AEMS) would automatically send alerts to the duty officer and key officers if any Certis CISCO officer did not return their firearms within the one-hour period.

At midnight on Sep 19, 2020, Certis CISCO's operation control officer received an AEMS email alert that Mr Elanko had not returned his revolver as of 11pm the day before.

The officer checked the time tracking system and realised that Mr Elanko had already scanned out, meaning that he had returned to the Certis CISCO Centre. He called Mr Elanko's mobile phone, but did not get an answer.

From about 12.15am, the officer and another sergeant who also received the AEMS email alert escalated the matter by informing other officers including Staff Sgt Chiue and Certis CISCO's management.

They conducted checks with the armoury and Security Transport Unit (Banking and Retail) which Mr Elanko was in, confirming that his revolver was not returned and that all teams in the unit had returned. Mr Elanko remained uncontactable by phone.

At about 12.45am, Assistant Commissioner Julian Chee, Commander of the Certis CISCO Auxiliary Police Force, was notified that Mr Elanko was missing. He instructed the officers to inform the police and check Mr Elanko's locker.

Around 1am, Certis CISCO officers searched Mr Elanko's locker and viewed closed-circuit television footage of the locker room showing that he had the revolver. He was also seen flagging a taxi.

Certis CISCO informed the police of the incident at about 1.30am. Police officers went to East Coast Park to search for him at about 5.30am, and discovered his body at around 6.15am.

IMPROVEMENTS TO FIREARMS PROCEDURE

At the time of the incident in September 2020, the AEMS and the time tracking system were not linked, said AC Chee. After the incident, the systems were linked in October 2020.

This meant that if an auxiliary police officer scanned out via the time tracking system before his deployment officially ended and his firearm was not yet returned to the armoury, an alert would be issued. The alerts would continue until the firearm was returned.

There was also an escalation protocol if the officer was not contactable or there was a suspicion that the officer "no longer had a legitimate justification" to possess the firearm, the coroner's findings said.

The duty officer would inform the police, and other Certis CISCO officers would be mobilised to check CCTV footage and search lockers and the officer's deployment site.

The escalation protocol was reviewed frequently and incorporated police input, with the last review done this year, according to AC Chee.

"This enhancement will allow for a faster reaction to similar incidents if they happen in the future," said Judge Nakhoda.

In December last year, Certis CISCO also reviewed the timing for the majority of auxiliary police officers to return their firearms, taking into consideration the official duty end time and average transport time back to Certis CISCO Centre.

Auxiliary police officers are also "individually tracked" until their issued firearms are returned upon completing their duty so as to minimise the risk of late return or non-return of the firearms, said the coroner's findings.

"MAY NEVER BE UNDERSTOOD"

Forensic analysis of Mr Elanko's mobile phone revealed that he had done Internet searches on suicide and gunshot wounds in the early morning of Sep 18, 2020, before going to work.

The judge found that Mr Elanko had formed the intention to end his life by that morning, and put this intent into action after completing his deployment later that night.

Recollections from Mr Elanko's cousin and housemates painted a picture of a reserved man who kept to himself. He did not show suicidal intentions or overt behavioural changes prior to his death.

He had suffered a tragedy in 2015 or 2016 when his girlfriend died of cancer, but there was no indication this was what spurred him to take his life, said the judge.

From his colleagues' recollections, Mr Elanko was also a good worker. He had no medical or financial concerns, added Judge Nakhoda.

"What may never be understood was the reason why Mr Elanko decided that he had no option left in his life but to commit suicide," said Judge Nakhoda.