Volunteers act as bridge between police, persons with developmental disabilities

SINGAPORE — She cut short her lunch and headed to the Ang Mo Kio Police Division after receiving a message that a person with special needs required her help as the police took his statement.

Ms Zaridah Hon, who joined the Appropriate Adult (AA) Scheme this year, is one of 60 specially trained volunteers who act as a bridge between investigation officers and persons with developmental disabilities (PWDD). Their presence helps facilitate the interview process and enable the PWDD to understand investigation officers’ queries and respond more effectively.

“We help with the questioning by using safer and faster methods, such as using drawing,” said the 46-year-old pharmaceutical technician.

In the Ang Mo Kio Police Division case, Ms Zaridah drew a couple of stickmen on a piece of paper to try to make it easier for a 23-year-old Down Syndrome man to tell them how many people were involved in a theft case. The man was helping the police in their investigations.

Ms Zaridah said she joined the scheme as she has a 21-year-old son with special needs and she wants to help the PWDD.

The AA Scheme, administered by the Law Society of Singapore Pro Bono Services, will be expanded this year, with plans to increase the current pool of volunteers to more than 300. New partners, such as Central Singapore Community Development Council (CDC) and the National Council of Social Service (NCSS), will also be engaged to help create awareness of the scheme, among other things.

Mayor of Central Singapore District Ms Denise Phua, who spoke to TODAY after the launch of the scheme’s expansion yesterday, said the CDC will work with the Law Society, the NCSS, police and key disability groups to identify, train and develop AA volunteers.

A Law Society spokesperson said the AA ensures that the interview is done in a fair manner, without compromising the integrity of the statement, and the AA does not need to follow up with the case. The investigation officer will assess if an AA is needed to facilitate the interview process during the statement recording.

For special needs clients who are on the Developmental Disability Registry, the first line of assistance will be through the voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs) currently helping them. If a VWO member is not available, then an AA would be activated to help in police interviews.

The AA, who will be contacted by the Law Society via SMS, is expected to be present at the police station within one hour of activation.

Another volunteer, wedding consultant David Loh, said he was once asked to help a special needs woman in her 30s who was assisting the police in a shoplifting case at a supermarket.

“I looked at the way she behaved, she looked very scared, she kept shaking her head,” said the 68-year-old in Mandarin. “I told her ‘don’t be so scared, calm down’, and she told me that she did not steal but forgot to pay for the newspaper on her way out.”