All police officers in Singapore have been trained to deal with terrorism and threats as part of their basic training, according to the Singapore Police Force (SPF).

Responding to queries from Channel NewsAsia on how prepared police are to deal with terror threats today, SPF said that since the Sep 11 attacks in the United States, a terrorism module has been introduced as part of all trainee officers’ compulsory police training. It is regularly updated to include terrorists’ latest methods of attack, SPF added. The move also reflects the police force’s plans to keep up with evolving crime trends and threats, it said.

Trainee officers go through at least six months of training at the Home Team Academy, where they learn skills such as firearms and weapons handling, unarmed combat tactics, police procedures and regulations as well as the criminal code.

… Associate Professor Kumar Ramakrishna, head of Policy Studies at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) said the police could benefit by tapping a range of resources on terrorism-related topics.

“I believe some sort of exposure to information and expertise, from terrorism analysts or scholars on what are the modus operandi of terror groups’ attempt to penetrate into society or neighbourhoods, would be helpful to them in their daily work,” Assoc Prof Kumar said.