HPB Voices Reloaded
May - June 2007
Go to : Fitness Assessment | Dragon Boat Race | Fitness @ Work |
Go to : SMM's Visit to SPF | JP Morgan |
Not Another Day At The Senior Management Meeting (SMM)
The Senior Management Meeting (SMM) on 20 April 07 was unlike the usual meeting with presentation of paper after paper. Organisation Development Department (ODD), together with the SMM secretariat and the Innovation Activist Group (IAG) had organised a learning trip to Singapore Police Force (SPF). 40 enthusiastic staff comprising the CEO, Directors, Deputy Directors and IAG members hopped onto the coach and set off on the learning journey to New Phoenix Park, Irrawaddy Road.
Why was SPF chosen for the learning journey? Since its formation in 1819 as a small colonial police force, the SPF has matured over the years into an organisation that is well respected internationally. Over the past decade they have evolved from a traditional concept of policing concerned only with maintaining law and order, to a new policing concept of working in partnership with the community to fight crime and the threat of terrorism in view of the changing demands of the environment. Besides this, SPF was also one of the earlier pioneers for introducing the concept of learning organisation to its people.
Mr Teo Kian Teck, Director Service Development & Inspectorate gave a welcome address, followed by a corporate video on SPF and various presentations from his colleagues. Mr. Vinod Kantilal, Manager SQA presented SPF’s Organisation Excellence (OE) journey. He shared with the audience how SPF’s shared vision “Being a Force for the Nation and a police force that inspires the world” was born, the reasons that prompted SPF to embark on its OE journey and introduced the practice of the Learning Organisation (LO) disciplines to SPF. There were 2 formidable challenges faced by SPF. The first was to transform itself into a world-class organisation within a short span of time. The second challenge was to pursue OE while maintaining Operational Excellence i.e. the day-to-day operations. With hard work from the staff as well as strong commitment from the management, SPF was the first government department to win the Singapore Quality Award (SQA) in 2002. Despite achieving world-class excellence, SPF was mindful that amidst the increasingly rapid changes in the operating environment, it had to move on in its OE journey so as to sustain its capacity to deal with the challenges that lay ahead. SPF’s OE efforts were further recognized with the achievements of the Singapore Innovation Class (2003), Singapore Service Class (2004), People Developer Standard, the Distinguished Public Service Award (2004) and Top Public Service Award (2006).
Inspector Chang followed with a sharing on the SPF Service Excellence framework. SPF provides accessible services to its customers through a comprehensive network of over 350 contact points including Police Hotlines, Neighbourhood Police Centres, Neighbourhood Police Posts, Service Quality Branches and electronic services available on SPF website. A Management Analysis System for Customer Information (MAYCI) system was developed to collate all customer feedbacks. It allowed SPF to track the transactional history of each customer and therefore enabled SPF to provide consistent replies to the customers. The MAYCI system also allowed SPF to generate statistics to study customer complaint/feedback trends to gain insights on customers’ requirements. SPF also commissioned their own Mystery Customer Audit (MCA) on top of the MCA mandated by PSD. A service quality panel was formed, consisting of key officers from SPF and external parties from Robinson and Singtel, to advise the management on service matters. Recognitions and awards system were put in place to recognise the good work of staff. Light-hearted card-games, comic books, service articles on the police-life magazine and guidelines were developed to serve the learning needs of staff in a fun way. Another enlightening example which Inspector Chang shared with the group was how SPF managed to turn “offender” round to compliment the police. They received a compliment letter from a motorist who was so impressed with the interaction he had with their Traffic Police Officer that he sent in a compliment letter despite being issued a summon. This was something which HPB could learn from SPF.
Following the presentation, we had a better understanding of how SPF engages the community in community policing. Community policing is a key cornerstone that has not only enhanced SPF’s capabilities in crime fighting and counter-terrorism, it also contributes greatly to community recovery. SPF adopted the community policing strategy that was modelled after the Japanese “Koban” (or the Police Box system). The “Neighbourhood Police Post (NPP) System” was set up to create police presence within the community. With the rapid changes and new challenges ahead, SPF had adopted the Neighbourhood Policing Centre (NPC) System, where instead of just working in the community; the SPF would now work with and through the community. By embarking on a community-focused type of policing strategy, SPF was able to tap on the knowledge, skills and resource of our community in order to collectively address the concerns, and hopefully, reduce overall crime rate. Beside NPC system, Community Safety & Security Programme (CSSP) was also incepted to empower residents to resolve their localised safety and security issues. By encouraging the community to take greater ownership over their localised issues, SPF is helping the government in promoting active citizenry. Through joint action planning between the grassroots leaders, residents and government agencies such as the police, SPF is better able to address issues holistically with more lasting success. An example of a successful CSSP project was “Citizen on Patrol” where it empowers residents with the ability to patrol their own community. This promotes citizenry amongst residents by involving them in enhancing their community’s security through participation in the prevention & detection of crime.
Last but not least, ASP Hisham presented the overview of Technology in SPF. His presentation covered the technology planning framework, technology strategic programmes and SPF Technology Priorities. The 3G Manpack System is an example where SPF used wireless technology in the recent major events such as IMF 2006 and GE 2006. The 3G Manpack System is a mobile wireless surveillance solution which allows near real-time video streaming over the 3G network. It is equipped with a video server and covert camera with an optional plug-in handy video camera. All these are powered using a rechargeable battery pack.
We ended off the session by touring around the Police Heritage Centre. There were captivating exhibits and a myriad of exciting multimedia and audio-visual displays that endeavour to recreate the genesis and development of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) since the 1800s. It seeks to present us with a better perspective of the rule of law, the interplay of justice and corrupt-free governance, as well as the importance of trust and rapport between the people and the Police.
The learning journey was indeed an insightful trip for all of us!