Singapore Police Force (SPF) has arrested two teenagers, aged 17 and 18, for their suspected involvement in several cases of impersonating police officers.
The police stated that they received a report regarding a group of young men claiming to be police officers and engaging in aggressive tactics to seek donations in public on 6 April 2017.
Through extensive follow-ups, the police said that officers from the Ang Mo Kio Division established the identities of the group and two suspects were arrested on 9 April 2017.
The police said that they are also investigating the licensee for possible breach of regulations under the House to House and Street Collections Act.
Police investigations are still ongoing.
Anyone found guilty of an offence of impersonating a public servant, under Section 170 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224, may be punished with an imprisonment term which may extend to 2 years, and shall also be liable to a fine.
The suspects were not only pretending to be the police, they also said that they were working for Velocity Advertising and Sales to solicit for donations.
Unscrambled Singapore first published the video on the incident, and it quickly spread online. It has since been viewed 51,000 times on Unscrambled Singapore’s Facebook page and shared 318 times. Sam, who posted the video wrote, “Please share this around to help aware your friends or child. In this video at Punggol interchange, you can see one of the students want to walk away from this people but one of them pull him back. These people will say that they are policemen and will force you to “donate” $10 if not you can’t leave. It happened to one of my friends recently like this student.”
According to Unscramble Singapore, the suspects threatened Sam to take down the video, exchanging comments on the post of the video.
The suspects told Sam that what they were doing was legal, and Sam could be sued for uploading the video.
The police reminds the public to be vigilant and wary of persons who may impersonate as police officers to facilitate the commission of their criminal acts.
If in doubt, they should request for the police officer’s warrant card to verify his identity before complying with the instructions of the officer. A genuine warrant card will have identification features such as the police crest, the photo of the officer, his name and NRIC number.
When the card is tilted at an angle, the holographic word “POLICE” will also appear below the officer’s photograph. If they are still unsure of the person’s credibility as a police officer, they should call 999 for assistance.
Any person seeking donations must hold a valid licence issued by the police or the National Council of Social Services (NCSS).
Members of the public can perform the following checks:
- Request for the Collector’s Certificate of Authority (CCA) from the person who is soliciting for donations.
- Check the list of fund raising events approved by the police and NCSS via http://www.police.gov.sg/…/hhsc%20…/hhsc_poster_20170404.pdf
- Check the charity portal’s fund raising permit at http://www.charities.gov.sg/Pages/Home.aspx
