Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Turnover Rate Amongst Police Investigation Officers Investigating White Collar Crimes in the Past Five Years

Question:

Mr Murali Pillai: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what is the staff turnover rate amongst white collar crime investigation officers (IOs) in the Singapore Police Force, including the Commercial Affairs Department, in the past five years; (b) of the rate, what is the split attributable to IOs resigning and retiring respectively; and (c) what percentage of retired IOs are re-employed to continue investigating white collar crime cases for the same period.

Answer:

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

1.   The average turnover rate of white-collar crime Investigation Officers (IOs) in the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) over the past five years was 6%. Of these, 94% resigned from service, while 6% were retiring officers, half of whom were re-employed with the CAD.

2.   The Police invests heavily in the training and development of these IOs. They are sent for specialised training conducted by the Home Team School of Criminal Investigation to deepen capabilities to address complex cases. They also have the opportunity to go on external postings to gain exposure and may be sponsored for professional accreditation. The skills and experience of the IOs are highly sought after in the financial sector.

3.   To attract and retain the IOs, the compensation package is regularly reviewed to remain market competitive. In the recently completed review, officers in the Home Affairs Uniformed Services and the Commercial Affairs Scheme will receive a salary adjustment of between 3% and 10% with effect from 1 Jan 2023. At the same time, the Police constantly looks at ways to enable the IOs to better manage their heavy caseload, like the introduction of the Digital Forensic Kiosk, which allows officers to efficiently retrieve and analyse information in the mobile digital devices of persons under investigation.