Singapore
By Aqil Haziq Mahmud 29 Apr 2021 06:00PM (Updated: 29 Apr 2021 06:00PM )
SINGAPORE: The special operations police instructor, wearing a khaki uniform and black balaclava, showed me how to raise a 16kg door rammer without hurting my back.
Bend your knees in a squat and use both hands to hold the rammer, he said. Stand straight without arching your back.
My task – to break down a door at a mock HDB unit at the Home Team Tactical Centre so that police can storm the flat and take down a suspect who had locked himself in.
It is all part of a hands-on session on Tuesday (Apr 27) for reporters to understand how the police deal with such situations, or what they call barricaded incidents.
When the instructor told me to take a good swing and aim for the key hole, my arms went slightly weak. Before this, a real Special Operations Command (SOC) trooper had broken in with one swing.
With all that weight, it was tough to generate enough momentum and simultaneously hit right the spot. My first swing was met with a dull thud. Then again, and again. The door was still locked shut.
Panting a little, I was not going to embarrass myself in front of the SOC troopers and other reporters. Another three swings and the door finally swung open. The spectators politely applauded.
CNA reporter Aqil Haziq Mahmud trying out the 16kg rammer used to break down doors. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
In actual cases, SOC troopers must break in as quickly and safely as possible as the situation in the unit could be serious or life-threatening.
For instance, a man who has locked himself in could be trying to escape from the police after a long chase. He could be trying to commit suicide or hurt a hostage. A suspect could also be mentally ill.
Neighbourhood police officers, called Ground Response Force (GRF) officers, are often the first to respond. They make the initial attempt to get the subject to open the door. If that is not possible, officers from the Crisis Negotiation Unit (CNU) and SOC are activated.
This means that negotiations, including an assessment on the level of imminent danger to the person or others in the unit, could last for hours before a decision is made to break in.
In one of the longest cases, a 39-year-old man locked himself in a Sembawang flat with a two-year-old boy in 2016, sparking a 17 hour-stand-off with the police. The man was eventually arrested after SOC officers broke into the unit.
Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam told Parliament that the police did not storm the flat earlier as authorities had assessed that the hostage-taker did not pose any immediate danger to the child if he was not provoked.
“As a result, the ground decision was taken to de-escalate the situation by deploying the Crisis Negotiation Unit to talk to the hostage-taker to persuade him to surrender,” he said in a written reply then.
“When negotiations were not successful, the police had to assess the right timing to break into the flat without putting the child at risk.”
Police Tactical Unit officers from the Special Operations Command breaking down a door during a training exercise. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
The police said on Thursday that they often receive questions from the public on their response to such stand-offs, including why there is a need for so many officers and tactical SOC troopers on the ground.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (AC) Gregory Tan, commander Central Division, said multiple boots are needed to clear the surrounding area and help people who might have been in the barricaded unit but managed to escape.
“You also require other police resources, like Special Operations Command, because you never know when situations may evolve and they are very unpredictable,” explained AC Tan, who has overseen “quite a lot” of these cases since becoming commander two-and-a-half years ago.
“So we don't have the luxury of time to activate resources when we need them. That's why we have a protocol to ensure resources on the ground as quickly possible, so that when they are required, they are ready to act.”
STAND-OFF SCENARIOS
AC Tan, 37, divided the barricaded scenarios into three categories based on increasing level of unpredictability.
The first involves those who try to evade arrest. AC Tan said these people have usually committed “major crimes” like housebreaking, rioting and especially drug offences.
“They just want to not get caught, but they are rational and that’s a critical difference,” he said.
The second involves those who want to commit suicide. AC Tan said these people could be irrational and sometimes act out. “They may be emotional, but they generally can still correspond,” he said.
The last category involves those who show signs of being mentally ill or unsound. AC Tan called this group the “most unpredictable”.
“They are often incoherent, they may be proclaiming the desire to harm themselves or others, and they tend to act rather erratically,” he added. “That’s the type that draws the largest attention.”
Commander Central Division Assistant Commissioner of Police Gregory Tan speaking to the media at Home Team Tactical Centre. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
This unpredictability means officers have been hurt and stabbed during stand-off situations, with subjects sometimes brandishing knives or threatening to set butane tanks from steamboat stoves on fire.
While police intervention has not always been successful in stopping suicide, AC Tan believes there has not been a case where police actions directly set off the act of suicide
This is why, he said, being absolutely certain about breaking in takes “a long time” of tactical planning and engaging the person to know how unsettled he is.
“It's never our first option to break in. I think our desired end goal is always to resolve it peacefully and to de-escalate,” he added.
“Our preference is never to go in proverbially guns blazing, or baton swinging. We’d rather talk it out, have the person come out.”
ESCAPE GONE WRONG
Indeed, one of AC Tan’s most memorable cases had a relatively peaceful ending.
For the entire day, police had been on the hunt for a man who had started fires at different residential properties. Officers eventually found him hiding in his friend’s condominium.
While the tenant let police in, the suspect had locked himself in a room before escaping through an air-conditioning vent. But as the suspect climbed down, he started shouting for help. It turned out that he was afraid of heights.
Singapore Civil Defence Force officers ended up rappelling down to rescue the suspect.
“This one stands out a lot because there was a little bit of comedic effect,” AC Tan said. “When he was there (climbing down), he suddenly became very cooperative because he was really scared.”
Ground Response Force officer Station Inspector Shahreel Samsudin has been with the force for more than two decades.
Another case two months ago threatened to turn into a protracted stand-off, when a person refused to let police investigating officers in to ask about a case of criminal intimidation.
But GRF officer Station Inspector (SI) Shahreel Samsudin said the incident ended “quite well” when the subject’s family member came with a key to let officers in.
Officers are trained to find alternative means of entry, including getting keys from other sources and going in through windows.
“On the onset, we have to assess the situation and get the layout of the place, because we never know if this kind of incident will escalate,” said SI Shahreel, 40, a deputy team leader with the Rochor Neighbourhood Police Centre under the Central Division.
“Of course, we need to gather any information from the subject or witnesses and neighbours. From there, we can create a plan to determine what is the next step to be taken.”
STAYING CALM
The police said they will use “all resources available” to see what is going on in the unit, while GRF officers try to talk the subject into letting them in.
But if the subject is uncooperative, SI Shahreel said officers “won’t try to gain entry or force open the door in his view, because it will just trigger other actions from the person”.
“So we will just talk to him, try to calm him down, things like that,” he added. “But on top of that, we will still think of other possible situations that can arise from there. And then we are thinking of what we need to activate next.”
Ground Response Force officers responding to a distressed caller at a stand-off incident as part of a training exercise. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
The ground commander will make the decision on what to activate next, and AC Tan said the general guideline is not to take any risks.
“So the moment we suspect that it may be (a barricaded incident), rather than it would probably be, we expect frontline officers, both the guys on the ground as well as the guys back at the Police Operations Centre, to activate additional resources,” he stated.
ART OF NEGOTIATION
This is when specially trained CNU officers step in to find out if the subject is facing any issues.
“We will need to check whether the subject has any mental health history, any history of suicide or what the suicide risk assessment is like, any history of violence as well to see whether he can pose a threat to anyone,” said CNU principal psychologist Ho Hui Fen, 39.
“If there is anyone with him or her in the unit, we may be concerned about the safety of the person inside.”
Crisis Negotiation Unit personnel arrive at the scene of stand-off during a training exercise. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
Similar to counselling, Ms Ho said negotiators show genuine care and concern and use active listening skills when engaging subjects. Sometimes, a subject may refuse to talk, so negotiators will try different topics to engage him.
“I think utilising active listening skill sets is important because ... in other situations, people may have been quite minimising towards a situation or they dismiss the challenges that he or she is facing,” she said.
This could prove useful in situations when storming the barricaded unit is not feasible.
Ms Ho recounted an incident in a condominium where a man who was drunk sat naked on his balcony ledge and threatened suicide with his wife and two-year-old daughter at home. Breaking in was not an option due to the unit’s structure, Ms Ho said.
“I think we negotiated for a few hours and finally managed to get him to reconsider and come down to safety,” she added.
Crisis Negotiation Unit psychologist Ho Hui Fen said counselling and stand-off negotiation require similar skills. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
People apprehended under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act will be taken to the Institute of Mental Health for examination to see if treatment is required. They may be placed on suicide watch if the risk of killing themselves is high.
But when threats of violence are made, Ms Ho said negotiators will use the subject’s medical and behavioural history, as well as live observations like how determined he is in verbalising his threats, to come up with a violent threat assessment.
“If the threat is imminent, I'm sure sometimes tactical options may come into play, rather than continuing with negotiations,” she stated.
BREAKING IN TAKES TIME
The police said SOC officers have a “range of tools” to gain entry into a locked unit.
Besides the 16kg rammer, officers can use a longer, 23kg rammer to break sturdier doors and locks. The latter is handled by two people instead of one, and is generally used when there is more space.
For instance, in narrow HDB corridors, the 16kg rammer will be used.
“Officers need to undergo rigorous training on a frequent basis to ensure their skills are maintained,” the police said. “Strength is a given to ensure they can operate the tools effectively.”
Police Tactical Unit officers from the Special Operations Command storming a HDB unit during a training exercise. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
Nevertheless, AC Tan acknowledged that breaking in can take “some time”, especially as some doors are more reinforced than others. “Unfortunately, it's not like in the movies, where in five seconds you can break open the door,” he said.
The police could deploy more than one group of SOC troopers so that it can reconfigure resources to meet tactical needs.
Ultimately, the police said their priority in barricaded incidents is ensuring the safety of everyone involved, including the subject, victims, officers and the public.
“And to resolve the situation with minimal harm to persons and minimal damage to property, while ensuring that any criminals are apprehended,” they added.
Source: CNA/hz(gs)
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Negotiate or break in? How the police handle stand-offs with people who lock themselves in
Police Tactical Unit officers from the Special Operations Command sawing down a steel gate during a training exercise. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)By Aqil Haziq Mahmud 29 Apr 2021 06:00PM (Updated: 29 Apr 2021 06:00PM )
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SINGAPORE: The special operations police instructor, wearing a khaki uniform and black balaclava, showed me how to raise a 16kg door rammer without hurting my back.
Bend your knees in a squat and use both hands to hold the rammer, he said. Stand straight without arching your back.
My task – to break down a door at a mock HDB unit at the Home Team Tactical Centre so that police can storm the flat and take down a suspect who had locked himself in.
It is all part of a hands-on session on Tuesday (Apr 27) for reporters to understand how the police deal with such situations, or what they call barricaded incidents.
When the instructor told me to take a good swing and aim for the key hole, my arms went slightly weak. Before this, a real Special Operations Command (SOC) trooper had broken in with one swing.
With all that weight, it was tough to generate enough momentum and simultaneously hit right the spot. My first swing was met with a dull thud. Then again, and again. The door was still locked shut.
Panting a little, I was not going to embarrass myself in front of the SOC troopers and other reporters. Another three swings and the door finally swung open. The spectators politely applauded.
CNA reporter Aqil Haziq Mahmud trying out the 16kg rammer used to break down doors. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
In actual cases, SOC troopers must break in as quickly and safely as possible as the situation in the unit could be serious or life-threatening.
For instance, a man who has locked himself in could be trying to escape from the police after a long chase. He could be trying to commit suicide or hurt a hostage. A suspect could also be mentally ill.
Neighbourhood police officers, called Ground Response Force (GRF) officers, are often the first to respond. They make the initial attempt to get the subject to open the door. If that is not possible, officers from the Crisis Negotiation Unit (CNU) and SOC are activated.
This means that negotiations, including an assessment on the level of imminent danger to the person or others in the unit, could last for hours before a decision is made to break in.
In one of the longest cases, a 39-year-old man locked himself in a Sembawang flat with a two-year-old boy in 2016, sparking a 17 hour-stand-off with the police. The man was eventually arrested after SOC officers broke into the unit.
READ: Man arrested after entering sleeping neighbour’s home and kissing her
Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam told Parliament that the police did not storm the flat earlier as authorities had assessed that the hostage-taker did not pose any immediate danger to the child if he was not provoked.
“As a result, the ground decision was taken to de-escalate the situation by deploying the Crisis Negotiation Unit to talk to the hostage-taker to persuade him to surrender,” he said in a written reply then.
“When negotiations were not successful, the police had to assess the right timing to break into the flat without putting the child at risk.”
Police Tactical Unit officers from the Special Operations Command breaking down a door during a training exercise. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
The police said on Thursday that they often receive questions from the public on their response to such stand-offs, including why there is a need for so many officers and tactical SOC troopers on the ground.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (AC) Gregory Tan, commander Central Division, said multiple boots are needed to clear the surrounding area and help people who might have been in the barricaded unit but managed to escape.
“You also require other police resources, like Special Operations Command, because you never know when situations may evolve and they are very unpredictable,” explained AC Tan, who has overseen “quite a lot” of these cases since becoming commander two-and-a-half years ago.
“So we don't have the luxury of time to activate resources when we need them. That's why we have a protocol to ensure resources on the ground as quickly possible, so that when they are required, they are ready to act.”
STAND-OFF SCENARIOS
AC Tan, 37, divided the barricaded scenarios into three categories based on increasing level of unpredictability.
The first involves those who try to evade arrest. AC Tan said these people have usually committed “major crimes” like housebreaking, rioting and especially drug offences.
“They just want to not get caught, but they are rational and that’s a critical difference,” he said.
The second involves those who want to commit suicide. AC Tan said these people could be irrational and sometimes act out. “They may be emotional, but they generally can still correspond,” he said.
The last category involves those who show signs of being mentally ill or unsound. AC Tan called this group the “most unpredictable”.
“They are often incoherent, they may be proclaiming the desire to harm themselves or others, and they tend to act rather erratically,” he added. “That’s the type that draws the largest attention.”
Commander Central Division Assistant Commissioner of Police Gregory Tan speaking to the media at Home Team Tactical Centre. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
This unpredictability means officers have been hurt and stabbed during stand-off situations, with subjects sometimes brandishing knives or threatening to set butane tanks from steamboat stoves on fire.
While police intervention has not always been successful in stopping suicide, AC Tan believes there has not been a case where police actions directly set off the act of suicide
READ: The riot squad: How the Police Tactical Unit keeps the peace
This is why, he said, being absolutely certain about breaking in takes “a long time” of tactical planning and engaging the person to know how unsettled he is.
“It's never our first option to break in. I think our desired end goal is always to resolve it peacefully and to de-escalate,” he added.
“Our preference is never to go in proverbially guns blazing, or baton swinging. We’d rather talk it out, have the person come out.”
ESCAPE GONE WRONG
Indeed, one of AC Tan’s most memorable cases had a relatively peaceful ending.
For the entire day, police had been on the hunt for a man who had started fires at different residential properties. Officers eventually found him hiding in his friend’s condominium.
While the tenant let police in, the suspect had locked himself in a room before escaping through an air-conditioning vent. But as the suspect climbed down, he started shouting for help. It turned out that he was afraid of heights.
Singapore Civil Defence Force officers ended up rappelling down to rescue the suspect.
“This one stands out a lot because there was a little bit of comedic effect,” AC Tan said. “When he was there (climbing down), he suddenly became very cooperative because he was really scared.”
Ground Response Force officer Station Inspector Shahreel Samsudin has been with the force for more than two decades.
Another case two months ago threatened to turn into a protracted stand-off, when a person refused to let police investigating officers in to ask about a case of criminal intimidation.
But GRF officer Station Inspector (SI) Shahreel Samsudin said the incident ended “quite well” when the subject’s family member came with a key to let officers in.
READ: ‘Trained to take a bullet for VVIPs’: Inside SPF’s Counter Assault Unit which welcomes first female officer
Officers are trained to find alternative means of entry, including getting keys from other sources and going in through windows.
“On the onset, we have to assess the situation and get the layout of the place, because we never know if this kind of incident will escalate,” said SI Shahreel, 40, a deputy team leader with the Rochor Neighbourhood Police Centre under the Central Division.
“Of course, we need to gather any information from the subject or witnesses and neighbours. From there, we can create a plan to determine what is the next step to be taken.”
STAYING CALM
The police said they will use “all resources available” to see what is going on in the unit, while GRF officers try to talk the subject into letting them in.
But if the subject is uncooperative, SI Shahreel said officers “won’t try to gain entry or force open the door in his view, because it will just trigger other actions from the person”.
“So we will just talk to him, try to calm him down, things like that,” he added. “But on top of that, we will still think of other possible situations that can arise from there. And then we are thinking of what we need to activate next.”
Ground Response Force officers responding to a distressed caller at a stand-off incident as part of a training exercise. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
The ground commander will make the decision on what to activate next, and AC Tan said the general guideline is not to take any risks.
“So the moment we suspect that it may be (a barricaded incident), rather than it would probably be, we expect frontline officers, both the guys on the ground as well as the guys back at the Police Operations Centre, to activate additional resources,” he stated.
ART OF NEGOTIATION
This is when specially trained CNU officers step in to find out if the subject is facing any issues.
“We will need to check whether the subject has any mental health history, any history of suicide or what the suicide risk assessment is like, any history of violence as well to see whether he can pose a threat to anyone,” said CNU principal psychologist Ho Hui Fen, 39.
“If there is anyone with him or her in the unit, we may be concerned about the safety of the person inside.”
Crisis Negotiation Unit personnel arrive at the scene of stand-off during a training exercise. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
Similar to counselling, Ms Ho said negotiators show genuine care and concern and use active listening skills when engaging subjects. Sometimes, a subject may refuse to talk, so negotiators will try different topics to engage him.
“I think utilising active listening skill sets is important because ... in other situations, people may have been quite minimising towards a situation or they dismiss the challenges that he or she is facing,” she said.
This could prove useful in situations when storming the barricaded unit is not feasible.
Ms Ho recounted an incident in a condominium where a man who was drunk sat naked on his balcony ledge and threatened suicide with his wife and two-year-old daughter at home. Breaking in was not an option due to the unit’s structure, Ms Ho said.
“I think we negotiated for a few hours and finally managed to get him to reconsider and come down to safety,” she added.
Crisis Negotiation Unit psychologist Ho Hui Fen said counselling and stand-off negotiation require similar skills. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
People apprehended under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act will be taken to the Institute of Mental Health for examination to see if treatment is required. They may be placed on suicide watch if the risk of killing themselves is high.
But when threats of violence are made, Ms Ho said negotiators will use the subject’s medical and behavioural history, as well as live observations like how determined he is in verbalising his threats, to come up with a violent threat assessment.
“If the threat is imminent, I'm sure sometimes tactical options may come into play, rather than continuing with negotiations,” she stated.
BREAKING IN TAKES TIME
The police said SOC officers have a “range of tools” to gain entry into a locked unit.
Besides the 16kg rammer, officers can use a longer, 23kg rammer to break sturdier doors and locks. The latter is handled by two people instead of one, and is generally used when there is more space.
For instance, in narrow HDB corridors, the 16kg rammer will be used.
“Officers need to undergo rigorous training on a frequent basis to ensure their skills are maintained,” the police said. “Strength is a given to ensure they can operate the tools effectively.”
Police Tactical Unit officers from the Special Operations Command storming a HDB unit during a training exercise. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
Nevertheless, AC Tan acknowledged that breaking in can take “some time”, especially as some doors are more reinforced than others. “Unfortunately, it's not like in the movies, where in five seconds you can break open the door,” he said.
The police could deploy more than one group of SOC troopers so that it can reconfigure resources to meet tactical needs.
Ultimately, the police said their priority in barricaded incidents is ensuring the safety of everyone involved, including the subject, victims, officers and the public.
“And to resolve the situation with minimal harm to persons and minimal damage to property, while ensuring that any criminals are apprehended,” they added.
Source: CNA/hz(gs)
Continue reading...