Police Said ‘Significant Resources’ Were Spent To Investigate Raeesah Khan’s Lie
On 3 Aug, then Sengkang MP Raeesah Khan gave a speech that contained untruths in Parliament, which involved the Singapore Police Force (SPF).
But on 9 Dec, Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh said he didn’t feel that her lie did a wrong to the police.
In front of the Committee of Privileges (COP), he also questioned whether they had put in much work to check her story in the first place.
To that, the SPF has responded that they actually devoted “substantial resources” towards investigating her claims.
This involved many police officers, they added.
Raeesah Khan claimed police made comments about rape victim
Ms Khan claimed in Parliament on 3 Aug that she’d accompanied a rape victim to the police station a few years ago, but the woman left the police station in tears.
This was because, she added,
The police officer had allegedly made comments about her dressing, and the fact that she was drinking.
The then MP used this anecdote to illustrate how law enforcement officers need to treat survivors of sexual crimes better.
On 1 Nov, Ms Khan admitted to Parliament that this was untrue, and she’d heard the account in a women’s support group that both of them were part of.
Police took the claim seriously
However, the legwork had already been done, the SPF said in a statement posted on Facebook on Monday (13 Dec).
In fact, because an MP had made that statement in Parliament, it was “taken seriously and at face value”.
Thus, “a substantial amount of resources was dedicated to this”.
Exhaustive amount of work undertaken
Firstly, they tried to identify the visit, then they also considered that Ms Khan might not have entered a police station but waited outside.
Thus, some of the exhaustive work that was undertaken included:
- 2 rounds of record-checking, including particulars of police station visitors in Singapore since 1 Jan 2017
- Combing through over 1,400 sexual assault and related cases from 2018-2021
- Narrowing the list down to cases that seemed to match the description she gave
- Asking investigation officers to check their case records in detail, as well as other details
- Checking all the feedback from members of the public in 2018 that related to sexual assault
However, they could not link any case to what Ms Khan had said.
Many police officers involved
Many police officers had to be involved in performing these checks, said SPF.
These officers didn’t just waste their own time doing them – it also affected members of the public.
That’s because other matters and cases had to be delayed, SFP noted, adding,
Cases could have been handled faster had the time and resources not been wasted trying to investigate an incident which never happened.
Pritam not aware of police work done
SPF’s statement was a counter to Mr Singh’s assertion—that he wasn’t aware that the police had gone through all their cases to check on Ms Khan’s untruths.
The Workers’ Party (WP) chief pointed out to the COP that Minister of State for Home Affairs Desmond Tan had said in Parliament – also on 3 Aug – that the police couldn’t find any case resembling the one Ms Khan mentioned.
Thus, Mr Singh questioned,
So what work was actually done? I am not aware.
He also denied that the police would be adversely affected by Ms Khan’s lie.
He didn’t feel either that Ms Khan’s lie did a wrong to the police as they were not a “broken-back” organisation.
Catch the exchange here:
Untruths will erode public trust in police: SPF
In their statement, the SPF retorted that untruths like Ms Khan’s would cast doubt on the police.
This will, in time, erode public trust in the SPF—which is important in securing their cooperation and carrying out police work to fight crime and protect the community.
Besides that, victims may also decide against seeking help from the police.
Additionally, comments that dismiss false accusations against the police are discouraging, and,
They can also affect the morale of our officers, who work hard every day to keep Singaporeans safe and secure.
Kudos to our brave police officers
The police indeed play a vital role in the community, so it’s important the public trusts them.
False accusations against them may hinder that, so it’s no surprise that Ms Khan’s claims were investigated thoroughly.
But some may think that police resources should have been allocated elsewhere than on an unsubstantiated case, and public trust can be regained via concrete actions.
Kudos to the brave police officers who carry out their duties for the public. We’re sure every Singaporean will agree that those focused on public service should never be faulted for their dedication.
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Featured image adapted from MCI Singapore on YouTube.
