Mr Shanmugam also reiterated the issue of manpower constraints in the Singapore Police Force (SPF), in response to a question from Peopleโs Action Party MP Louis Ng.
Mr Shanmugam provided more statistics regarding the workload of the SPF.
For instance, about 66,200 criminal cases were handled by about 1,100 investigation officers in 2016.
In Singapore, there are about 13,200 police officers, including full-time National Servicemen. This means that the ratio of police officers to the countryโs population is 0.23 per cent.
In comparison, New York has a ratio of 0.42 per cent, while London is 0.34 per cent and Hong Kong is 0.39 per cent.
To be on par with those cities, Singapore would need more police officers. For instance, to have the same ratio as New York, the SPF will need about 11,000 more officers, said Mr Shanmugam.
โSo Members can understand and appreciate the load on our officers,โ said Mr Shanmugam.