Singapore
When a terrorist attack happens, police will be the first and main responders – but may ask other agencies like the Army to provide support.
Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam talking to officers from an Emergency Response Team (Photo: Nisha Karyn)
SINGAPORE: Under Singapore’s legal framework and constitutional structure, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is responsible for home-front and internal security, including counter-terrorism, crisis and consequence management, said Minister K Shanmugam in Parliament on Friday (Mar 2).
“MHA must and will do all it can to protect our people. It is our responsibility and accountability to deal with terrorist threats within Singapore,” the Home Affairs and Law Minister said.
“When a terrorist attack happens, MHA is therefore overall responsible, will be in charge and lead the national response. Police will manage the incident on the ground and will be the first and main responders.”
“If the scale of the attack is very large, MHA may also ask SAF (Singapore Armed Forces) to provide support to the police as an auxiliary force. Likewise, MHA may also ask other ministries, agencies … to support the operations,” Mr Shanmugam added.
These agencies could also include, depending on the nature and scale of the incident, the Ministry of Communications and Information and the Ministry of Health.
Said Mr Shanmugam: “This modus operandi has been discussed and agreed for some time, and as I said it follows the constitutional structure and practice we’ve adopted over many decades – and I made this clear in 2016 when I stated that (for) all operations within Singapore, the police will take command.”
“For example, if there is a large-scale attack, if police need additional forces beyond the Emergency Response Teams (ERT), (and) Special Operations Command (SOC), SPF (Singapore Police Force) may call upon SAF for specialised forces such as the Special Operations Task Force. They will also support and reinforce the ERTs and SOC.”
SPF and SAF have developed joint plans and have been conducting joint exercises “to make sure these plans are sharpened”, he said.
“We are of course very appreciative for the SAF’s commitment, and the commitment of other agencies, to support the Home Team in such situations,” said Mr Shanmugam.
