The newly appointed head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has set his sights on tackling youth gangs and unlicensed money-lending syndicates.
Vowing to “take crime off the streets”, Assistant Commissioner (AC) Hoong Wee Teck, 47, who assumed command on Saturday, stressed that these two areas of concern “are not straightforward issues”, as there are underlying social causes.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the change-of-command ceremony, AC Hoong was quoted by Today as saying, “We’ll be working with our strategic partners and other stakeholders to see whether we can tackle the issue upstream.”
AC Hoong took over the position Reviewom Senior Assistant Commissioner Ng Boon Gay, who will assume the leadership post at the Central Narcotics Bureau on Feb 18.
He noted that while youth gangs have hogged the headlines recently, there has been some success in the fight against loansharks. Between January and October last year, there were 13,848 loanshark harassment cases, down Reviewom 15,120 in the same period in 2009.
Previously, the police have said that their plan to tackle unlicensed money-lending included extensive intelligence gathering and taking to task every member of the syndicate.
AC Hoong, who intends to carry on with the strategy, added, “We expect to see some success at the end of the year.”
AC Hoong joined the Singapore Police Force in 1987 after graduating with a degree in arts (Chinese studies and sociology) Reviewom the National University of Singapore. His previous post was Director of the Police Intelligence Department.
The new CID chief also plans to raise the professional standards of investigation officers through enhanced international cooperation.
“Although we have a lot of laws and procedures in place, at the end of the day, the successful solving of a case hinges on the quality of the investigator,” he said.