The Public Transport Security Command (TransCom) is a specialised

transit police Transit police (also known as transport police, railway police, railroad police and several other terms) are specialized police agencies employed either by a common carrier (a transit district, railway, railroad, bus line, or any other mass tr ...

unit of the

Singapore Police Force The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is the national and principal Police, law enforcement agency responsible for the prevention of crime and law enforcement in the Republic of Singapore. It is the country's lead agency against organised crime; huma ...

(SPF). It was first established as the Police MRT Unit (PMU) in 2005 as a component unit of the Special Operations Command in response to the need for greater security in public transport operations in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

influenced by security concerns at the time. On 15 August 2009, the unit was upgraded into a separate specialist division and took its present name.

History

In April 2005, during the annual Police Workplan seminar of the Singapore Police Force in April 2005,

Minister for Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...

Wong Kan Seng Wong Kan Seng ( zh, s=黄根成, j=Wong4 Gan1 Sing4, poj=N̂g Kun-sêng, p=Huáng Gēnchéng; born 8 September 1946) is a Singaporean former politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore between 2005 and 2011. He has been serving ...

announced plans to set up a specialised unit. The unit was called the Police MRT Unit (Abbreviation: PMU; ms, Unit Polis MRT; ) and was part of the Special Operations Command. Officers began operational patrols on the Mass Rapid Transit network from 15 August 2005. Plans to enlarge the PMU into an independent unit within the SPF was announced in 2008. The transition was completed on 15 August 2009 when the unit was upgraded took its present name, reflecting its expanded role to police the entire public transportation network in Singapore. In 2008, it shifted from its base at

Queensway Base Queensway Base is the headquarters that is home to the Special Operations Command (SOC), a front line department of the Singapore Police Force (SPF). It is situated directly across Queensway, and was formerly the Old Queenstown Police Station. U ...

to the former Geylang Police Division headquarters building.

Manpower and equipment

TransCom draws its manpower from the regular as well as the conscript full-time national servicemen (NSF) resources, with the build of officers amongst the selection criteria. Taller and well-built officers are chosen to project a tougher presence. Officers are trained to conduct policing work in confined and crowded spaces, and are familiarised with the MRT system's operations. In 2007, the unit began to include

Volunteer Special Constabulary The Volunteer Special Constabulary (VSC) in Singapore comprises volunteers from the general public. VSC officers are imbued with equal powers of a regular police officer to enforce law and order in Singapore. They wear the same police uniform as p ...

officers in its ranks. Each TransCom officer is armed with a

revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that has at least one gun barrel, barrel and uses a revolving cylinder (firearms), cylinder containing multiple chamber (firearms), chambers (each holding a single ...

T-baton A baton (also known as a truncheon or nightstick) is a roughly cylindrical club made of wood, rubber, plastic, or metal. It is carried as a compliance tool and defensive weapon by law-enforcement officers, correctional staff, security guar ...

, set of

handcuffs Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individual's wrists in proximity to each other. They comprise two parts, linked together by a chain, a hinge, or rigid bar. Each cuff has a rotating arm which engages with a ratchet tha ...

and portable radio. Regulars, as well as selected NSFs, are trained in the use of the

Taser A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended t ...

, as a less-than-lethal option to defuse situations where lethal force would not be deemed necessary. Officers are dressed in dark blue tactical uniforms similar to those worn by

Police Tactical Unit A police tactical unit (PTU) is a specialized police unit trained to handle situations that are beyond the capabilities of ordinary law enforcement units because of the level of violence (or risk of violence) involved. A police tactical unit's tas ...

officers. Officers initially wore blue-coloured

beret A beret ( or ; ; eu, txapela, ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap, usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in 19th century France and Spain, and the beret rema ...

s, but were given light grey-coloured berets on 30 December 2009, with the dual purpose of signifying their distinction as an independent department and increasing visibility during operations.

Operations

TransCom officers currently operate in pairs or larger groups in and around stations and trains on the MRT network. These patrols, which may include the inspection and searching of suspicious packages and persons, are deliberately kept random to retain an element of surprise for greater operational effectiveness. Initially deployed only on the MRT system, TransCom Officers now have their area of operations extended to the bus interchanges and terminals, which were previously patrolled by Neighbourhood Police Centre officers.

References

{{Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore) Counterterrorism in Singapore Special Operations Command (Singapore) Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore) Transit police departments