SINGAPORE — A 46-year-old security officer's failure to dispose of a fake improvised explosive device (IED) used in a simulation exercise led to police officers being activated to investigate a bomb threat.

Investigations by the police then led to the discovery of various other offences that the security officer allegedly committed.

The security officer will be charged on Tuesday (April 9) with several crimes that could see him jailed if found guilty.

In a media release on Monday, the police said that they had responded to a call about a suspicious item, suspected to be an IED, on Jan 5 this year at 8.22am. The item was said to be located at 32 Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2.

Upon security checks, the police assessed that the item was a fake bomb that did not pose any security threat.

“The suspicious item was allegedly left behind as part of a red-teaming exercise conducted by a security company,” the police said.

Red-teaming exercises are conducted by organisations to test and improve their security effectiveness, through simulating attacks and security breaches.

“Poor management of the exercise resulted in the activation of actual police resources to the scene and more than 100 people were inconvenienced as they were prevented from entering the premises due to the ongoing checks,” the police added.

Police investigations revealed that the security officer, who was on night-shift duty, was purportedly not at the guardhouse when the exercise was being conducted in the early hours of Jan 5.

“He had received a call from the red-teaming team at about 4.30am to dispose the fake IED but had forgotten to do so,” they added.

The man had also told the police that he was away from his guardhouse for a short period to buy food nearby, but surveillance footage showed his absence for more than five hours between Jan 4 and 5.

He also admitted to providing false entries in a so-called "guardhouse occurrence book" to cover up his absence, the police found.

The man will be charged on Tuesday with:

• The offence of causing alarm under Section 4(2) of the Protection from Harassment Act 2014, which carries a fine of up to S$5,000
• The offence of absence from security officer duty without valid reasons, which carries a jail term of up to three months or a fine of up to S$2,000, or both
• The offence of furnishing false information to a public servant, which carries a jail term of up to six months or a fine of up to S$5,000, or both
• The offence of falsification of accounts, which carries a jail term of up to 10 years or a fine, or both

The police warned that all security threats are treated seriously, and that they will not hesitate to take action against anyone who causes public alarm due to their negligence.