Singapore using virtual reality in counterrorism

Source: govinsider.asia, 12/06/2018

As the Trump-Kim summit takes place today in Singapore, security
across the island has been ramped up.
One of the reasons Singapore was chosen as the host is its reputation
for safety and stability. The country is investing in high-tech tools
to support its public safety officials. The government uses virtual
reality to simulate terrorist attacks, and is looking at how
artificial intelligence can help them make quick decisions.
In an exclusive interview with GovInsider, the Ministry of Home
Affairs’ (MHA) tech chief shares how officers are prepared to respond
to crises. When plunged into the chaos of an attack, they need to be
able to work cohesively, Ng Yeow Boon, Senior Director of the Ops-Tech
Group says.
Virtual team-building

In January, Singapore’s Home Team began using augmented reality and
virtual reality to simulate terror attacks, knife-wielding hostiles,
and other scenarios, training commanders in “team-based
decision-making”, says Ng. “You feel that you are in a real situation,
facing a gunman, and you have to act”, he explains. These simulated
training exercises will take place at the newly-launched Home Team
Simulation Centre.
MHA is moving away from “skills-based simulation” â€` like how to shoot
a gun, steer a boat, or read a radar â€` towards more realistic and
complex simulations with a first-person view, says Ng. In the virtual
world, there are no limits. “An oil tanker on fire â€` you cannot
[physically] simulate that”.
In these training sessions, dangerous scenarios unfold on-screen, made
to look as if they are happening on an actual Singapore street. Up to
20 officers in a mock command centre provide instructions for those on
the ground to follow. Each virtual exercise has an added layer of
complexity: trainers can introduce disruptions and scenario changes to
create unpredictability, testing officers’ decision-making skills
while under stress.
Officers of the future
Singapore plans to automate some of the police work to cope with a
shortage of manpower for public safety jobs. The country plans to use
artificial intelligence “in a much more significant way”, along with
facial recognition, to augment the abilities of officers and optimise
limited resources, the country’s Home Affairs Minister announced last
year.
Technologies like these can be a “big force multiplier” in officers’
work, Ng says. For instance, video analytics can help them interpret
CCTV footage to detect “emerging events”, he says. “A fight, a riot, a
person in distress â€` we should be able to pick this up.”
During mega-events such as the National Day Parade, Home Team agencies
can coordinate with hospitals and supporting agencies better.
“Information is received and shared almost instantaneously, when in
the past probably there is a lag,” Ng explains. “You actually use a
common architecture â€` just like all of us that’s on Whatsapp.”
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“Information is received and shared almost instantaneously.”
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In a similar way, agencies, officers, and responders can ‘share’
sensors, allowing for better collaboration. “Different agencies may
have different sensors, all of which are able to come into one to
complete a ‘common situation picture’, facilitating better
decision-making,” says Ng.
The Ministry is also exploring drones to manage incidents such as
fires, or keep major events secure, he adds. The Singapore Civil
Defence Force, for instance, used them during a fire at a waste
management plant last February to locate hotspots that firefighters on
the ground couldn’t see.
New dynamics
While MHA is investing in these technologies, there must be clear
benefits to officers and their day-to-day work, Ng says. “We continue
to apply technology to pain points and not just focus on something
that is very long-range and has very little connection to frontline
officers in particular,” he remarks.
In the future, predictive policing could help officers derive insights
from historical patterns, he adds. They will be able to suss out
“trending hotspots where you may want to pay more attention than
usual”, Ng explains. This not only increases the effectiveness of a
single officer, it also helps to optimise on limited police resources.
Team dynamics and processes are also changing, with officers now
operating in small and nimble teams, rather than in one large one.
“Officials are more mobile, more connected. They don’t need to have
one leader and twenty men like a platoon [in the military],” Ng points
out.
Ultimately, MHA’s vision is to empower every single officer, and equip
them with tools that can help them work smarter and safer, Ng
believes. “Technology in the hands of very creative officers can
transform the organisation,” he says.
This week, Singapore is on the international stage, and the world will
witness history in the making. No matter the outcome of the
much-awaited meeting between the US and North Korea, Singapore’s
public safety officials must ensure it goes smoothly.