Straits Times Forum 11 Jan 10;
'Police will respond if there is danger to the public.'
DSP PAUL TAY, assistant director, media relations, Public Affairs Department, Singapore Police Force: 'I refer to last Monday's letter by Mr Robert Shen, 'Police just asked her to call the pest controllers. Aren't they here to protect?'.
The police will respond to all cases of wild animals found in public areas if there is imminent danger to the public. Similarly, when an animal found in a private compound poses an immediate danger to life, the police will also respond.
However, in this case, the police operator who received the call rightly assessed that there was no immediate danger posed by the python. That was why the caller was advised to contact a pest control company.
The 999 Call Centre is an emergency call centre. It is not feasible for the 999 officers to contact the pest control company on behalf of members of the public, as the centre handles a large number of emergency calls on a daily basis. In this security climate, the police must prioritise and deploy scarce resources to tackle the twin challenges of crime and terrorism.
Diverting resources to assist requests such as helping to contact pest control or other vendors will mean a reduced capacity to attend to incoming urgent calls.'
Python scare
Straits Times Forum 4 Jan 10;
'Police just asked her to call the pest controllers. Aren't they here to protect?'
MR ROBERT SHEN: 'I refer to last Thursday's report, 'Help... there's a snake in my room'. I was shocked to read that when the Canadian woman called the police to report a python in her house, the police just asked her to call the pest controllers. Aren't they here to serve and protect? At the very least, the police should have contacted the experts, got them to deal with the situation and sent a patrol car to her house to see if everyone was safe.'
