Number of Police Activations Involving Suicide Risk or Self-Harm by Age in the Past Five Years

Question:

Dr Wan Rizal: To ask the Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs for the last five years (a) what is the number of police activations involving suicide risk or self-harm with age breakdowns; (b) what are the average response time and outcomes; (c) what is the proportion of frontline officers trained in such crisis intervention; and (d) what are the partnerships established for post-incident follow-up.

Answer:

Mr K Shanmugam, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs:

1. When the Police receive reports involving attempted suicide, they will dispatch the nearest available resource, with the aim of responding within 15 minutes. They do not track the number of such activations.

2. All frontline Police officers are trained to handle a wide range of incidents, including attempted suicide. Officers also undergo a Mental Health Awareness Course, developed by the Agency of Integrated Care, to help them understand the signs and symptoms of various mental health conditions, and how to engage persons with such conditions.

3. Where necessary, the officers will activate additional resources such as the Singapore Civil Defence Force’s Disaster Assistance and Rescue Teams (DART) and the Police’s Crisis Negotiation Unit (CNU). DART is specially trained for complex rescue operations, including cases of attempted suicide at height. CNU has Police officers and psychologists who are specially trained to engage individuals in crisis situations.

4. The Police also have established protocols for referring attempted suicide cases to mental health professionals. For example, the Institute of Mental Health’s (IMH) Crisis Response Team is a joint initiative by IMH, the Police and the Ministry of Health, to support Police officers with immediate assessments to determine the appropriate interventions. In cases where psychiatric support is needed, the individuals may be conveyed to IMH.