Singapore Auxiliary Police Recruitment: The Case of Taiwan Recruits
Jun-Shu Huang, Tzung-Shiun Li (pdf file)
Abstract
This study aims to explore the Auxiliary Police system in Singapore through in-depth interviews with Taiwanese who work as auxiliary police officers and supervisors of the auxiliary police company in Singapore.
Singapore's government has been outsourcing part of its police power because of the shortage of police officers, a system that contributes to a new form of public-private cooperation. Fully utilizing the third-party policing for security, Singapore's government dispatches Taiwanese auxiliary police officers to its borders and important facilities around the country. With appealing wages, the Auxiliary Police system not only draws Taiwanese to Singapore but also becomes a newly developed approach for Taiwanese who desire to immigrate to Singapore in the future.
It is proposed that, firstly, Taiwanese government establish an auxiliary police system to outsource part of police power, which would help alleviate the workload of the Taiwanese police so that they can focus on investigating felonies and cybercrime. Secondly, Taiwanese government can recruit foreign residents as auxiliary police officers who can be the bridge between police officers and foreigners in Taiwan. Thirdly, Taiwanese government should negotiate with auxiliary police companies and human resources agencies which recruit Taiwanese to Singapore to prevent any forms of exploitation of auxiliary police.
Keywords: Singapore, third party policing, auxiliary police