Categories
In The Force

To inform and protect

Community Engagement officers play an essential role in driving the SPF’s partnership efforts.

TEXT SPF
PHOTOS SPF

Operating at the heart of our community, the Community Engagement (CE) Officers’ policing work involves liaising with the wider public. Their aim is to actively educate and raise awareness on illegal/unlawful activities through Crime Prevention exhibitions and road shows, house-to-house visits and advisory posters in our neighbourhoods. In addition, they partner with external stakeholders to organise school talks and Citizens on Patrol (COP) activities.

Citizens on Patrol is a volunteer programme where members look out for and report suspicious activities, as well as promote crime prevention measures in their community, to jointly create a safer living environment.

   

To achieve greater effectiveness in their engagement efforts, CE Officers are trained to develop both service-oriented skills and mindsets. The training improves their communication skills and helps them establish strong rapport with the public.

CE is one of many vocations open to Police Full-time National Servicemen (PNSFs) such as SC/CPL Nur Hakim Hazrin from Foxtrot Division. Here, he shares his enriching journey serving the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the public as a CE Officer.

STAYING ADAPTABLE

Due to COVID-19, CE Officers’ engagement efforts have gone online. While this necessitated new processes, SC/CPL Hakim and his colleagues have adapted and successfully organised various virtual activities. These included training COP volunteers and crime prevention talks for pre-schoolers.

   

SC/CPL Hakim conducting virtual training sessions for the Citizens on Patrol programme.

STAYING POSITIVE

One of the most challenging work experiences SC/CPL Hakim faced was when he had to engage a handful of uncooperative scam victims. They expressed little to no interest when he advised them to sign up for the Community Alert Service (CAS). This made it demoralising and difficult for SC/CPL Hakim to communicate with them.

However, with constant practice and support from his colleagues, SC/CPL Hakim adopted a positive mindset, allowing him to perform his duties more confidently.

For instance, if he makes a mistake while handling a complaint from the public, he keeps his chin up and learns how to handle such situations better in future. This gives SC/CPL Hakim added confidence when performing his duties.

With the increasing number of scams, CE Officers strongly encourage the public to subscribe to the Police Community Alert Service (CAS). Subscribers receive free alerts about the latest crime trends and advice on crime prevention measures. By keeping updated through CAS, members of the public will become more vigilant and less likely to become victims of crime.

STAYING INSPIRED

SC/CPL Hakim strongly believes that the work he does is meaningful and worthwhile, and he was able to learn public speaking, improve rapport-building skills and achieve a service-oriented mindset. Being further inspired by the CE Officers’ framework of volunteerism, SC/CPL Hakim goes the extra mile and volunteers during his free time.

An active volunteer at the Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centre (AMKFSC), he recently befriended seniors at AMKFSC. This gave him a better understanding of older residents. He also hopes his newfound knowledge will enable him to better assist them during his policing duties.

CE Officers work closely together with the community to help maintain a safe and secure living environment for all. The vocation also goes to show that PNSFs can contribute to frontline policing effort in various ways, and that the work they do is just as essential as that done by any other frontline police officers in safeguarding Singapore.

Categories
Club Buzz

Trick, treat or thrills

From racing against time in a scavenger hunt to surviving horror-themed escape games, HomeTeamNS members enjoyed a scarily good time during Halloween.

TEXT: ADLINA ADAM
PHOTOS: HOMETEAMNS

SPOOKY LANE OF FITNESS, TRICK OR TREAT AT HOMETEAMNS-JOM BALESTIER

Previous slide
Next slide

Over the Halloween weekend on October 30 and 31, 478 HomeTeamNS members dropped by HomeTeamNS-JOM Balestier to participate in exciting activities with their families. From Gho-st Hunting to the Spooky Lane of Fitness, Trick or Treat, participants gave themselves a good scare before going home with bags full of treats and big smiles on their faces.

Spooky Lane of Fitness, Trick or Treat

Spanning 20 meters, participants conquered different stations filled with tricks and activities. Along the way, they came face-to-face with ghoulish Halloween favourites, including Dracula, Skull, Mummy and Jack-O-Lantern.

Participants tackled challenges such as collecting items for the Witch’s brew with a pair of chopsticks at the fastest speed possible, breaking Dracula’s Dra-Code using mathematics, conquering Jack-O-Lantern’s agility ladder drills, and counting the number of eyeballs in the jars for Skull. After completing all the stations, participants were rewarded with sweet treats to take home.

Let’s Gho-st Hunting

There was indeed something strange in the neighbourhood! Participants navigated the Spooky Lanes to find Halloween creatures that had gone into hiding. To find the creatures, participants scanned QR Codes on hidden posters. With the discoveries, they gained chances to enter the District Lucky Draw. Prizes included sports bags and towels.

SPOOKTOBER AT HOMETEAMNS KHATIB

Previous slide
Next slide

As for HomeTeamNS Khatib, members lived their scary movie moments through a series of fearsome horror stories, dressed up in their best ghastly costumes, and ventured out on a scavenger hunt from October 22 to 31.

The 5 Stories of Horror

At allocated timeslots between October 22 and 31, some 142 participants worked under pressure to solve five horror mystery stories at HomeTeamNS Khatib – Walk-of-Dead, Haunted Toy Museum, Dr Jekyll’s Lair, Wacky Warehouse, and Circus Comes Alive. Grouped in pairs, they received a survival guide that included ground rules and the synopsis of the stories. Participants were given 15 minutes to solve a task at each venue, before moving on to the next story.

CarnEVIL
 

616 members and their loved ones had a fang-tastic time at the CarnEVIL! Consisting of four game booths – “Bewitched Ring Toss”, “Skeleton High-Fives”, “Feed the Pumpkins” and “Ghoul-in-One”, participants were on roll as they collected stamps on their spooky passes and redeemed some prizes and popcorn!

To snazz up the carnival vibe, families were dressed up in their best ghastly costumes and strutted down the EVIL Runway, and even went trick-or-treating with the clubhouse’s popular mascots. 

Terrorfic Hunt

Parents and their children raised their hunting skills to new heights as they scrambled through all 5-storeys of HomeTeamNS Khatib during the Terrorfic Hunt! In this digital scavenger hunt, participants searched for hidden clues and discovered a secret message at each checkpoint. At the end of the hunt, they were treated to a Boo! Bag of all things Halloween such as chocolates and candies!

 

SCAVENGER HUNT AT HOMETEAMNS BUKIT BATOK

A scavenger hunt was held at HomeTeamNS Bukit Batok between October 25 and 31, with 158 participants taking part. Members had to scout for a list of hidden items such as mummies, pumpkins, candy corns and witches to redeem an ice-cream that was stolen from the Witch before Halloween.

For the latest updates on HomeTeamNS events and activities, subscribe to our newsletter, visit our website or official Facebook page .