Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Reports Filed by the Public Since the Launch of i-Witness, by Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law

Question:

Mr Pritam Singh: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) since the launch of i-Witness, how many reports have been filed by the public; (b) how many of these have (i) aided ongoing police investigations and (ii) led to action taken against hitherto unreported crimes including stern warnings; and (c) whether the Ministry can include an option on the i-Witness webpage for a member of the public to choose whether he wishes to be informed about the outcome of their submission to i-Witness upon the completion of investigations.

Answer:

1.   Members of the public have filed more than 150,000 reports via i-Witness since its launch in Apr 2016.

2.   The Police will follow up on information received via i-Witness about criminal activity, including initiating investigations. The Police do not track the number of i-Witness reports which have aided ongoing investigations or led to action against unreported crimes. As the platform is intended for witnesses to quickly submit information to the Police, victims of crime are encouraged to lodge Police reports where they can provide more detailed information.

3.   For operational reasons, the Police are not able to communicate case outcomes to every person who puts up an i-Witness report. Police will provide case outcomes to persons directly related to the matter under investigation, such as the victims or accused persons.