SINGAPORE — More cameras will be used by the Singapore Police Force in the near future, with the Police announcing yesterday that in-vehicle recording systems will be deployed in selected Fast Response Cars from June to take action against errant drivers and to provide possible leads for crime investigations.

The in-vehicle systems will eventually enable live-streaming from incident locations to the operations room and command post, the Police said.

Cameras will first be installed at the front and rear of the cars, but the Police are aiming for 360-degree coverage when the in-vehicle systems are fully deployed, said Assistant Superintendent Jude Sherman D’Cruz of the SPF’s Operations Department.

Also from June, frontline officers at one Neighbourhood Police Centre will start wearing body-worn cameras weighing 79 grams. The plan was announced during the Committee of Supply debates on the Home Affairs ministry’s budget for this year.

Interactions with members of the public when they are attending to incidents will be recorded — after informing the individuals — so as to capture crime-scene investigations, as well as for cross-checking allegations made by members of the public.

The Police said processes are in place to ensure recordings of both body-worn cameras and in-vehicle systems are not tampered with.

On whether members of the public can opt not to be filmed, the Police said the recordings can provide valuable leads and are useful in the fight against crime. “Hence, while attending to an incident, the Police officer will do the needful to capture what he needs for investigation and operational purposes. Police is aware of the need to protect the privacy of victims and complainants in some cases and will exercise discretion and consider such requests appropriately,” a spokesperson said.

Deputy Police Commissioner T Raja Kumar said in a dialogue with 200 students yesterday that the community welcomes the installation of police cameras at HDB blocks — all 10,000 will be covered by 2016 — and this is a sign of trust in the Police.

The cameras are positioned to capture people heading in and out of the blocks, and not in a way that “allows us to look into houses”, he said.

“In everything that we do, we have to be very mindful of privacy and how to basically serve society’s need for law and order without overstepping the boundaries,” he added.

A low-cost way to deter thieves from stealing from donation boxes at places of worship also featured at the Police Workplan exhibition yesterday.

The contraption is designed by a team from Rochor Neighbourhood Police Centre, in collaboration with Sultan Mosque after the latter was hit by such a case of theft.

The anti-theft donation box features a sheet of metal placed at an angle beneath the opening of the box. It also features forked edges to catch the metal plates with sticky tape used by thieves to extract money from the box.

Religious institutions keen to adopt the anti-theft mechanism for donation boxes may approach the Police.  NEO CHAI CHIN