Oral Reply to Parliamentary Question on Number of Man Hours on Patrol Undertaken by Volunteers with the Citizens on Patrol Scheme

Question:

Ms He Ting Ru: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs for the last five years (a) what was the total amount of man hours of patrols undertaken by volunteers with the Citizens on Patrol scheme; and (b) what was the monthly average number of hours contributed by volunteers in the scheme.

Answer:

Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law:

1. Volunteers on the Citizens on Patrol (COP) scheme patrol their community and neighbourhoods and alert the Police when they notice suspicious activities or persons. They also engage the community on crime prevention measures.

2. The COP scheme has grown from about 5,000 volunteers in 2019, to about 7,000 volunteers in 2023.

3. In the past five years, the volunteers contributed an average of around 16,500 hours of patrol annually. The number of patrol hours took a dip during COVID-19. In 2023, the total number of patrol hours was around 24,000, or 2,000 per month.