Police Procedures and Risk Assessment Tools to Better Manage Missing or Abused Children Cases

Questions:

Mr Jackson Lam: To ask the Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether police risk-assessment tools will be recalibrated to prioritise cases involving children who are missing from contact for extended periods; (b) whether an automatic supervisory review will be triggered after defined time lapses for such cases; and (c) how technology, such as inter-agency databases or alerts, will support faster child location efforts by the police.

Mr Gabriel Lam: To ask the Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs on the February 2020 fatal child abuse case (a) why did the Investigation Officer classify the missing child report as low-risk; (b) what steps will the Ministry take to review the risk classification guidelines and follow-up requirements for Investigation Officers’ use especially for cases of missing vulnerable persons; and (c) how will supervision of Investigation Officers be strengthened.

Ms Valerie Lee: To ask the Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs (a) in each of the past five years, what is the average duration taken by investigation officers to close cases; and (b) what measures or guidelines are in place to ensure that cases are closed promptly.

Ms Diana Pang Li Yen: To ask the Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether SPF will mandate that all child-related cases such as missing persons, suspected abuse or high-risk family contexts be triaged by specialist investigation officers with child-protection training; and (b) whether the Ministry will embed or consider arranging for child-protection specialists to be embedded into police divisions to co-assess risk and co-lead responses.

Answer:

Mr Goh Pei Ming, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs & Ministry of Social and Family Development:

1. Mr Speaker, may I seek your permission to answer together, Questions 26 and 27 filed by Mr Jackson Lam and Mr Gabriel Lam on today’s Order Paper? My reply will also cover questions for written answer filed by Ms Valerie Lee and Ms Diana Pang for today’s sitting.

2. Megan Khung’s case was a tragedy. Minister Desmond has earlier set out the Government’s views on it.

3. In 2020, after Megan’s death was uncovered, the Police reviewed their handling of the case.

4. There were two rounds of police reports filed. The first report was made in Jan 2020 by Megan’s grandmother. Further police reports were made in Jul 2020, by Megan’s grandmother and father.

5. The Investigation Officer (IO) who dealt with the first police report, and her supervisor, failed to follow Police’s procedures to escalate the case to the regular case review sessions for monitoring and guidance.

6. The IO had assessed this as a case of child discipline with low safety concerns based on the information that she was presented with at that time.

7. Following the report, the IO attempted to contact Megan’s mother over the next two weeks, but could not reach her. She did not follow up beyond that because she was then redeployed for COVID-19 related duties.

8. Despite this, the case would normally have been followed up if the IO and her supervisor had escalated the case to the regular case review sessions in the first place.

9. The subsequent police reports concerning Megan were referred to the regular case review sessions, and this eventually led to the discovery of Megan’s death and the arrest of the perpetrators.

10. Police commenced internal investigations once the case came to light in 2020, and disciplined both the IO and her supervisor. The IO resigned subsequently.

11. The review panel has corroborated these findings.

Investigation Processes for Missing Person Reports

12. For missing person reports, the Police have established procedures to guide the follow-up. Specifically:

(a) The Police accord priority to missing vulnerable persons as they may be at higher risk, regardless of the duration they have been missing, andthis includes young children.

(b) Cases of missing vulnerable persons are escalated to the regular case review sessions with supervisors for monitoring and guidance.

(c) It is standard procedure for the Police to work with other Government agencies to locate missing persons, including sharing the data of the missing persons.

(d) Where necessary, the Police may also issue appeals for information to seek the public’s assistance.

13. The Police do not track the duration taken to close a case. There are many factors that can affect the length of an investigation. This includes the wide range of offences with varying complexities, as well as the need to work with different partners as part of the investigation process.

14. There are internal controls in place to ensure that cases are followed up promptly. These include a daily case review process for supervisors to provide guidance on the cases, and multiple levels of supervision and regular checks throughout the investigation. But the Police have also continued to strengthen these processes and systems.

Improvements Made to Police’s Systems and Processes

15. In particular, the Police have made several enhancements:

(a) In 2022, they introduced the Family Violence Training Package for all frontline and investigation officers to adopt a sensitive approach to family violence cases, including child abuse cases, and to recognise and escalate high-risk cases together with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF).

(b) In 2023, the Police formed Family Violence Teams (FVTs) at all Land Divisions to give focus to family violence cases, including child abuse cases. Specialised training is provided to FVT officers to equip them with the knowledge and skillsets to handle these cases, such as how to engage the victims sensitively, as well as how to work closely and more integrated with other agencies. In particular, when the Police come across a case of suspected child abuse, or when MSF receives an urgent report on high-risk cases through their National Anti-Violence and Sexual Harassment Hotline, the Police will work with MSF Protective Service for safety planning and social intervention for the family and child. This may include the activation of MSF’s Domestic Violence Emergency Response Team (DVERT), a round-the-clock service launched in 2023 to provide immediate help to high-risk domestic violence cases with immediate safety concerns. DVERT officers would respond on-site to conduct a professional assessment and make urgent arrangements for the victims to be relocated or placed in alternative care for their safety, if necessary. DVERT officers are also empowered under the Women’s Charter to issue Emergency Orders (EOs) at the scene, and to provide immediate safety for the victim.

16. To strengthen IOs’ efficiency and supervisory capabilities, the Police have also harnessed technology for the review of cases. They have implemented technological solutions to trigger automatic notifications to IOs and their supervisors to complete time-sensitive investigations promptly.

Conclusion

17. Our frontline Police officers bear a heavy responsibility to protect lives. They take this responsibility seriously, and perform their duties with commitment and professionalism.

18. The demands on our Police officers continue to increase. They often have to make difficult judgement calls every day in the course of their duties. When under pressure, mistakes can happen.

19. In this case, the lapse arose because two officers, who were under pressure, did not follow the established operating procedure. It was a serious breach, and it resulted in a tragic outcome. The Police will learn from this, and reinforce procedures and training for its officers.