COMMUNITY POLICING IN SINGAPORE by Mark Low Jian Neng A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in The Faculty of Graduate Studies (Geography) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (VANCOUVER) April 2012 ©Mark Low Jian Neng, 2012 ABSTRACT This thesis is devoted towards unpacking how community policing has been managed as a state discourse by the Singapore Police Force. Firstly, community policing is located within the historical context of a modernising Singapore. This begins with the need for crime prevention that was disseminated through decentralised neighbourhood police posts in the 1980s. With economic restructuring in the 1990s, community policing was rescaled to meet the changing demography of the population. Following an enhanced deployment of counter-terrorism discourse in the wake of 9/11, community policing was re-invented as part of a (re)bordering strategy to safeguard territorial sovereignty and social cohesion. Secondly, the methodology of community policing is visualised through the changing frames of the state-produced docu- drama, Crime Watch. As a television programme that has consistently raked in high viewership numbers for 25 years, Crime Watch texts deserve their fair share of critical scrutiny to reveal the means of community engagement by the state police. Thirdly, the personal networks of Volunteer Special Constables are studied for the insights that they can reveal into the work of policing one’s community. Personal interviews with sixteen volunteers provide the empirical data for analysis. Volunteers have committed much time and effort into performing the work of volunteer police officers. Mediating the boundaries between the police and the public, these volunteers translate community policing into practice in complicated ways that have not been adequately documented. In summary this thesis makes three contributions to social geography: it traces the convoluted history of community policing as a state-authored discourse; it sketches the stereotypical plotlines of community policing as a tool for community engagement; and it uncovers the personal networks through which community/policing may be performed. ii PREFACE This thesis was approved by the Behavioural Research Ethics Board of the University of British Columbia, BREB Number: H11-01116. iii CONTENTS Abstract...........................................................................................................................................ii Preface...........................................................................................................................................iii Contents.........................................................................................................................................iv List of Tables..................................................................................................................................vi List of Figures................................................................................................................................vii List of Acronyms...........................................................................................................................viii Acknowledgements........................................................................................................................ix Dedication.......................................................................................................................................x Chapter One: Introduction.............................................................................................................1 Literature Review................................................................................................................5 Models of Community Policing..............................................................................5 Communities of Dissent........................................................................................11 Chapter Two: Methodology..........................................................................................................16 Historical Context.............................................................................................................16 Popular Cultural Texts.......................................................................................................19 Personal Networks............................................................................................................22 Chapter Three: A History of Community Policing.........................................................................25 Laying the Groundwork for Community Policing..............................................................26 Preventing Crime..............................................................................................................38 Rescaling Community Policing..........................................................................................49 Redistribution of Resources to Achieve a More Equitable Outcome....................53 Scaling up Resources to Achieve Economies of Scale...........................................56 Remaking Boundaries of Real Police Work...........................................................59 Removing Barriers to Information Flow................................................................62 Coordinating Partnerships with External Agencies...............................................66 Helping Communities Help Themselves................................................................69 Creating New Political Spaces...............................................................................72 9/11 and the Counter-Terrorism Drive.............................................................................74 Bordering of Territory-Networks..........................................................................78 Extension of Policing Powers in Space-Time.........................................................84 Scalar Amplifications of Policing at Mega-Security Events...................................90 Recombinant Policing in Response to Fluid Threats.............................................93 Chapter Four: Crime Watch – Community Policing and Popular Culture.....................................97 Crime Watch.....................................................................................................................97 Opening Moves.....................................................................................................99 Visualising the Crime-Fighter Persona................................................................102 The Police Procedural.........................................................................................108 Preventing Crime................................................................................................111 Entertaining the Senses......................................................................................116 Encouraging Public Spiritedness.........................................................................120 The New Security Climate?.................................................................................124 Subtler Truths.....................................................................................................126 iv The Production and Consumption of Crime Watch........................................................127 Re-Presenting the State......................................................................................129 Other Forms of Consumption.............................................................................139 Mediating Ontological Insecurity............................................................140 Fostering Cynicism..................................................................................143 Chapter Five: Community Policing in Practice............................................................................152 Enrolment Processes......................................................................................................156 Desire..................................................................................................................156 Motivation..........................................................................................................160 Awareness...........................................................................................................164 Capacity...............................................................................................................167 Convenience.......................................................................................................170 Reproduction Processes.................................................................................................174 Time Management..............................................................................................174 Compartmentalisation........................................................................................177 Routines..............................................................................................................180 Familial Support..................................................................................................183 Integration..........................................................................................................185 Joys of Volunteering............................................................................................192 A Social