COMMUNITY POLICING IN SINGAPORE: PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

COMMUNITY POLICING IN SINGAPORE: PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

Though much has been written about law enforcement agencies developing partnerships with citizen groups in the context of community policing, very little research has addressed the role of private security and other related organizations as viable partners for law enforcement. The basis for developing working relationship is sharing common goals as well as having mutual respect for each other. A further important ingredient for developing sound relationships includes the presence and fostering of positive perceptions and attitudes toward each other. In this paper we examine the attitudes of police officers, auxiliary police officers and private security officers to assess their perceptions on strategies to improve police/security relationships in Singapore. Implications for developing partnerships are discussed.