Committee of Supply 2024 debate, Day 2: Josephine Teo on leveraging technology to drive Home Team transformation
Over the past few years, the Home Team has made “good progress” in its transformation efforts and in the face of increasingly severe challenges in the security environment, it will continue to adopt technology to strengthen its response capabilities, said Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo. Speaking in Parliament on Thursday (Feb 29), she said the Home Team will also stay people-centric in serving the public. Mrs Teo said the Home Team will strengthen its operational capabilities to detect threats earlier and respond faster and better. One way is to use police cameras, which have proven to be very effective in deterring, detecting and solving crimes, said Mrs Teo. The target is to deploy over 200,000 police cameras by the mid-2030s, more than double the number today. The Home Team will progressively replace older cameras and expand coverage across more locations. More autonomous patrol robots will be deployed as additional eyes on the ground and to project police presence. These patrol robots will be used to provide live video feeds to the Operations Command Centres of the police. Officers will also be able to communicate with the public remotely through the patrol robots and provide advice if needed. The Home Team will continue to innovate and co-create with industry partners to further capability-building efforts through HTX’s centre, known as Hatch. It facilitates direct interactions between start-ups and the Home Team, provides essential funding and enables the validation of projects through real-world testing and expert guidance. Mrs Teo said the Home Team is also redesigning its public-facing services to serve Singaporeans more efficiently and still get good security outcomes. Neighbourhood Police Centres will support the push for digital service and optimise resources to serve the community better. The Home Team is also exploring the use of speech-to-text AI technology to transcribe interviews recorded on video. Police are working to streamline the transcription process and will evaluate its usefulness to investigation officers through a trial to be conducted later. Mrs Teo stressed that the Home Team will use technology to improve community policing, as well as deepen and widen its engagements. One way is through a robot called CODY, which will be deployed during community outreach events to spread crime prevention messages.
Over the past few years, the Home Team has made “good progress” in its transformation efforts and in the face of increasingly severe challenges in the security environment, it will continue to adopt technology to strengthen its response capabilities, said Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo. Speaking in Parliament on Thursday (Feb 29), she said the Home Team will also stay people-centric in serving the public. Mrs Teo said the Home Team will strengthen its operational capabilities to detect threats earlier and respond faster and better. One way is to use police cameras, which have proven to be very effective in deterring, detecting and solving crimes, said Mrs Teo. The target is to deploy over 200,000 police cameras by the mid-2030s, more than double the number today. The Home Team will progressively replace older cameras and expand coverage across more locations. More autonomous patrol robots will be deployed as additional eyes on the ground and to project police presence. These patrol robots will be used to provide live video feeds to the Operations Command Centres of the police. Officers will also be able to communicate with the public remotely through the patrol robots and provide advice if needed. The Home Team will continue to innovate and co-create with industry partners to further capability-building efforts through HTX’s centre, known as Hatch. It facilitates direct interactions between start-ups and the Home Team, provides essential funding and enables the validation of projects through real-world testing and expert guidance. Mrs Teo said the Home Team is also redesigning its public-facing services to serve Singaporeans more efficiently and still get good security outcomes. Neighbourhood Police Centres will support the push for digital service and optimise resources to serve the community better. The Home Team is also exploring the use of speech-to-text AI technology to transcribe interviews recorded on video. Police are working to streamline the transcription process and will evaluate its usefulness to investigation officers through a trial to be conducted later. Mrs Teo stressed that the Home Team will use technology to improve community policing, as well as deepen and widen its engagements. One way is through a robot called CODY, which will be deployed during community outreach events to spread crime prevention messages.
Popular Shows
