The Association of Certified Security Agencies (ACSA) has issued a public statement yesterday to condemn the untoward behaviour of a condo resident towards a security officer shown in a viral video and applauds the calm, composed and professional conduct of the security officer in which was described as a “tense situation”.
The letter that is signed off by ACSA’s president, Robert Wiener, states that the association does not tolerate the abuse of security officers whilst they are discharging their duties.
The viral video – which ACSA is referring to – captures an exchange between a condo resident and a Senior Security Supervisor of Eight Riversuites.

TOC has seen a police report that was made on Saturday (26 Oct) by the officer in the video who was the security supervisor on site.
The supervisor wrote,

“The resident was visibly unhappy, aggressive and hurling vulgarities towards the whole incident and commented that he paid $1.5 million for his unit and not staying in a HDB unit and it was nonsense for him to pay 10 dollars for the overnight parking charges. Told him that we are just enforcing the rule He threatens to park the car at the main entrance driveway and walk into the condominium and told us that we can contact the Police if we wanted to. In order not to create a scene and aggravate the matter I decided to allow the driver in without paying the overnight charges and informed the resident that we will get the condominium management to contact him I am lodging this report for record purposes.”

Calls for deterrent sentence and security guards to be covered under POHA
The association which has 120 members under its care, also voiced its request for the Attorney General’s Office to press for a deterrent sentence and for authorities to cover security officers as public service workers under the Protection from Harassment Act (POHA).
In an earlier statement, Security Association Singapore (SAS) and ACSA, as well as training provider Leacov School of Security, made call for the law to provide for heavier penalties against those who abuse private security officers as they pledged to look into “all ways” to ensure security officers are able to keep themselves safe.
“To underscore the authority of our officers and the respect that is due to their work, and also to keep them safe, it would be very useful to provide for heavier penalties for abusers and stronger protection in law,”
Under POHA, only officers working in public places are recognised as “public service workers” and given extra protection, while those in non-public sites are only given “ordinary protection”.
The Penal Code also sets out harsher punishment for voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from their duties, carrying a maximum punishment of seven years’ jail and fine and caning while the offence of voluntarily causing hurt to a non-public servant carries a maximum sentence of two years’ jail and a $5,000 fine.
The statement added: “Currently, although our officers play an important role in Singapore’s security, they are not accorded a status in law that sufficiently recognises their importance.”
The group also noted that private security officers are not protected from litigation or prosecution in the discharge of their duties, and in the heat of the moment, officers may leave themselves open to legal liability.
“To protect them from retaliatory litigation, security officers are trained not to make any physical or violent moves themselves, but to ensure that their actions are witnessed or recorded, and to escalate the case where necessary,” said the statement.

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

LTA: Physical road tax display not needed from 15 February 2017 onwards

Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced that it will stop issuing physical road…

全球消费者信心调查:狮城创两年来新低,人民担忧就业稳定与经济放缓

根据美国经济咨商会(Conference Board )调查,新加坡人最担心莫过于健康、工作与生活平衡以及食品价格上涨的问题。 资讯与市场调查公司尼尔森(Nielsen)与美国经济咨商会联合调查全球消费者信心,发现新加坡消费者信心近两年来已跌至低点,全因人民对就业稳定与经济的担忧。 在一项近500人的调查中显示37巴仙的受测者为2019年第三季度经济感到担忧,比起第二季度的担忧高5巴仙。另外,受测者于第三季度中为工作保障感到担忧,约32巴仙。尽管如此,仍有34巴仙的人对就业前景持乐观态度,但比起前一季度的42巴仙,有着明显的下滑。 根据2017年的第三季度消费者信心达89巴仙,而2018年第三季度的调查显示,消费者信心则提升至98巴仙。 针对经济增长放缓的现象,日前有数据显示新加坡第三季度的经济增长放缓至0.1巴仙,勉强避免了技术性衰退,但显然,这样的数据无法说服人民。调查显示,近六成的人相信新加坡正处于经济衰退中,高于上季度的42巴仙。 上月,《彭博社》报导,我国经济面临全球的放缓压力,而深受影响的劳动力市场也正开始受到影响,有些迹象表明我国的就业前景仍不理想,如裁员人数正在提升,企业对于加薪的态度也相对谨慎,而失业的人愈来愈难找到新的工作。 全国最大求职网站JobStreet.com日前也曾公布调查,根据结果显示,一度被认为求职关键因素,如未来前景、员工福利、公司管理以及组织文化,如今逐渐不被重视,反观工作的稳定与保障逐渐成为决定入职的关键因素。 调查显示,人们更倾向长期稳定的工作,33巴仙的受访者表示若工作的属性是兼职或契约工,他们会选择拒绝。其中更以X时代(12.6巴仙)与婴儿潮一代(12巴仙)最忧虑。此外,44巴仙的受访者表示,他们更倾向于到财务状况较为稳定的公司求职。 经济放缓现象影响消费者消费意愿,人们更愿意储蓄或投资 由于上述的这些担忧,也间接造成消费者不愿意将钱花在其他消费上。仅37巴仙的人愿意将同时花在“需要的东西”与“想要的东西”上,譬如较为明显的消费下降在购买新衣物上,从22巴仙下滑至19巴仙;另度假消费也从第二季度的46巴仙降至第三季度的45巴仙;新科技消费也从17巴仙下降至16巴仙。…

Could it be possible for Singapore to have a Lennon Wall, just like the ones in Hong Kong?

For those who aren’t aware, Hong Kongers have opted for a rather…

Does the newly introduced subsidiary legislation address concerns surrounding POFMA?

The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019 (POFMA) is officially…