Singapore Police Force

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is the national and principal law enforcement agency responsible for the prevention of crime and law enforcement in Singapore. It is the country's lead agency against organised crime; human and weapons trafficking; cyber crime; as well as economic crimes that goes across domestic and international borders, but can be tasked to investigate any crime under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and is accountable to Parliament. SPF's main geographical area of responsibilities covers the entire country, consisting of five regions which are further divided into 55 planning areas. The organisation has various staff departments with specific focuses. These include the Airport Police Division (APD), which covers policing of Singapore's main civilian airports of Changi and Seletar, or the Police Coast Guard (PCG), which protects and enforces areas under Singapore's territorial waters and its ports. Formerly known as the Republic of Singapore Police (RSP), the SPF is a uniformed organisation. The SPF has declared its mission and vision as to "prevent, deter and detect crime to ensure the safety and security of Singapore". It is Singapore's point of contact for foreign agencies such as Interpol and other international law enforcement agencies. The organisational structure of the SPF is split between staff and line functions, which is roughly modelled after the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). The SPF currently consists of sixteen staff departments, four specialist staff departments, eighteen specialist and line units as well as seven land divisions. Its headquarters are located at one of the blocks of the New Phoenix Park building in the Novena district, which is located directly adjacent to a twin block occupied by the MHA. Situated within the headquarters are the Police Heritage Centre (PHC), which is open to the public and showcases the SPF's history through its various exhibits and multimedia displays. As of 2023, the SPF has a strength of approximately 11,500 personnel: 10,400 sworn officers and 1,100 civilian staff. The SPF has generally been credited as being the forefront in keeping crime in Singapore low, as well as being relatively transparent in its policing. Accordingly, Singapore has been considered as being one of least corrupt and safest countries in the world. The SPF also works closely with the Internal Security Department (ISD) and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB). As of January 2026, the current Minister of Home Affairs is K. Shanmugam, while the current commissioner of the SPF is How Kwang Hwee.