2. Police force in early Singapore
• It was set uyp by Francis James Bernard, the
assistant resident .
• It consist of 11 people
– 8 policeman
– 1 sergeant
– 1 jailer
• They were ineffective as there are more
than thousands of people
• There is no chief to run the police force
3. • The policemen don’t have uniforms and go
on their duty barefooted.
• Due to the low payment, nobody want to
join the police force
4. Problems faced in Singapore
• There were 3 problems faced in
Singapore, mainly
– The Chinese secret society
– The abuse of immigrants
– piracy
5. Chinese secret society
• They offered help and protection to the
immigrant such as helping them to find jobs in
the beginning
• Some of the Chinese immigrants formed gangs
and do illegal things such as
fighting, robbery, murdering etc. which would
make Singapore a dangerous place to live.
• The secret societies then build opium
houses, gambling dens etc. which made
Singapore a more dangerous place
6. • The secret societies also made trade in
Singapore have problem.
7. Abuse of immigrants
• Many immigrants immigrate to Singapore to
trade. The demand for the immigrants
became high and some coolie-agents start
kidnapping them.
• The poor Chinese immigrant who don’t have
enough money to pay for their trip had to
work in Singapore to pay back the agents.
• The immigrants are locked up in dirty
places then send them to work
8. • The immigrants are also shipped in dirty
and overcrowded ships.
• The people working as domestic servants
were also abused by their employers
9. Piracy
• Pirates are attracted because of the trading
activities in Singapore.
• The pirates preyed on the ship
• They even attacked the ships without any
fear.
10. Response
• 3 response are done to overcome the
problems
– Improve the police force
– Protectorate
– Set up gunboats
11. Improve the police force
• In 1857, Thomas Dunman was appointed
the first police chief
• Thomas was a talented police officer who
have good relation with the people . This
make him able to get information easily.
• Thomas also increased the salary of the
police force to attract people to join the
police force.
• He will give trainings for the policemam
12. • In 1862, the Detective Branch is set up and
was renamed to Criminal Investigation
Department in 1931
• Fingerprinting was applied to follow cases.
• This made the crime rate fell by 1920
13. Protectorate
• In 1877, William Pickering was appointed as the
first Protector of Chinese. Solving problems faced
by the Chinese community was their target
• He could communicate with the Chinese
community as he can efficiently speak different
dialects
• He was familiar with the leaders of the secret
societies
• He asked the Chinese to ask for help from the
protectorate instead of joining the secret society
14. • He carried frequent inspection on the
coolie’s lodging and ships to ensure they live
in a clean environment
• A shelter is set up for girls being abused
15. Gunboats
• Gunboats were used to control piracy
• Steamship placed the problems of piracy
under control as they can sail towards the
direction of the wind which made them
chase pirates
