| Journey
of innovation |
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| Police
officers using the mPOD on the
job. |
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In May’s
issue of Challenge, we featured the Singapore
Police Force (SPF), a leading TEC (The Enterprise
Challenge) innovator. The partnership between SPF
and TEC has been a dynamic and enriching experience,
with the former continually surfacing and piloting
TEC proposals, and the latter providing support
and various resources. The following story is an
excerpt from the SPF-TEC video, a collaborative
effort between SPF, TEC and technology partners.
It illustrates how SPF’s TEC innovations*
will bring about quantum leap improvements in SPF’s
operational capabilities and delivery of services
when fully implemented.
Scenario: Kim Tan, a patron at XC KTV Lounge, was
found unconscious in a KTV room at 10.17pm on 18
February. SPF was alerted.
18 February, 11.04pm. Crime scene.
Investigation Officers (IO) Ravi and Eve searched
for clues in the KTV room. Ravi found an empty plastic
bag on the floor. Eve noticed an extra mug of beer
and microphone. The lounge manager said he saw Kim
with a man.
Through mPOD, a PDA device which enables the screening
of people and vehicles wirelessly via GPRS, the
IOs were alerted to a car break-in at the car park.
The car belonged to the victim and the break-in
was detected by the car park’s Intelligent
CCTV (iCCTV). The iCCTV analyses human behaviour
and automatically alerts the Police on suspicious
incidents. The IOs were also informed of a red light
violation nearby. The Vision Based Red Light Enforcement
System had captured the offender’s vehicle
licence plate. The offender was traced —
Vincent Rajoo.
Meanwhile, Forensic Officers used the Rapid DNA
Fingerprint Sensor,
a portable DNA device to analyse the saliva found
on the microphone. Hair follicles were also collected
from the victim’s car. The DNA profile obtained
from the saliva sample was found to match that of
the
hair follicles.
19 February, 8.17am. Office.
The IOs found that Kim had recently lodged a report
on missing accounting files through ePC, a virtual
police service point where the public can lodge
non-urgent reports and feedback on police services
over the Internet. Using the Rapid Automated Computer
Examination Systems (RACES), the Computer Forensic
Team gathered evidence on the misappropriation of
company funds by Vincent Rajoo.
A Home Team colleague accessed SPF’s Real-Time
Operational Information System (RTOIS) and learnt
that a pusher was nabbed in a drug bust relating
to Ecstasy. RTOIS is a collaborative system using
Microsoft Excel/Word on a real-time basis, which
reduces error from multiple sources of data entry.
His fingerprints matched the ones on the plastic
bag found at the KTV Lounge. The pusher and Vincent
were brought in for questioning.
3.25pm. Interview room.
Vincent insisted he was innocent. His DNA sample
was taken for analysis. His fingerprint DNA matched
that from the microphone, which meant that he was
at the KTV lounge and was involved in the car break-in.
Separately, the pusher admitted selling Ecstasy
pills to Vincent.
Some time later. In court.
Faced with concrete evidence, Vincent Rajoo pleaded
guilty and was sentenced accordingly.
We can see that SPF has indeed come a long way in
its innovation journey. Without officers who can
think out of the box and come up with creative ideas
to implement technology available commercially,
SPF could not have come as far and surely with less
success than what we see now.
If you need to find out more details of SPF’s
TEC projects, you may contact DSP Lawrence Tham,
Assistant Director Planning and Monitoring, Police
Technology Department, Police Headquarters, via
email at Lawrence_Tham@spf.gov.sg.
* The products featured are
either in use or on trial |
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| By SPF
and TEC |
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