A look at riot police from the Singapore Police Force Special Operations Command and Gurkha Contingent

Follow me: Officers from the Singapore Police Force (SPF) Gurkha Contingent stand to in full riot gear. GC officers can be distinguished from Singaporean policemen by the five-digit service number embroidered in white on the right chest pocket and the crossed kukris on their helmets. Gurkha officers lead from the front, as seen in this picture.


With the Singapore Parliament due to discuss the Little India riot (8 Dec 2013) tomorrow, here's a series of images that show how the Singapore Police Force (SPF) would deploy and respond to civil disorder.

The images date back to 2006. They record a set piece demonstration staged for the media ahead of the IMF-World Bank meeting in Singapore that year. The publicity was aimed at assuring delegates and Singapore residents that the Republic was ready to tackle any eventuality at the meeting as such sessions have been known to attract activists who vent their views through violent street demonstrations. The high-profile event passed without street protests and were widely viewed as among the most peaceful in the long-running series.

The incident in Little India clearly indicates that real ops are different from set piece demos where forces can be marshalled and deployed in textbook formations like the ones seen below.

Am unsure if SPF has a Singapore Armed Forces ATEC-type evaluation for its riot police but it looks like they could benefit from such a framework, along with more realistic OPFOR simulators.

If you like reading about ancient warfare, you may see similarities between the formations used by Roman legions and what you see below. Enjoy!

Special Operations Command troopers form up line abreast in preparation for the order to advance.

With a water cannon vehicle providing close support, SOC troopers close ranks to form a shield wall as they confront demonstrators (played by other SOC troopers wearing civvies). The front ranks of a Roman legion deployed for close combat would probably have shields placed side by side like this. Evident from this view is the fact that while the troop commander has deployed the block force over a broad frontage, the line has poor defence in depth and no immediate reserves to exploit and pursue tactical opportunities. Such a formation is also vulnerable on its flanks. One would assume such a formation would be deployed across the breadth of a street, both to seal off the area and protect the flanks of the formation.

Providing support behind the SOC troopers are Gurkha Contingent police officers. Note the different types of shields. The officers with the round shields serve more as skirmishers who can rush out from either end of the protective shield wall, which in this formation is in stand to formation in open order. Impressive for pictures but the reality is that urban areas in Singapore afford few opportunities for large-scale formations like these to form up. Indeed, as seen in Little India, traffic congestion may prevent support vehicles from getting close to the flare up.

Pelted by "bricks" (shuttle run blocks for those of you old enough to have used these during PE), SOC vehicles support the shield wall with non lethal munitions. This vehicle has a mast-mounted camera for recording purposes. This stunted vehicle is not the prettiest in the SPF stable but does the job. It replaces an old Command vehicle design dating back to the Malayan Federation which had an open deck cupola built over the driving compartment of a bus. The SPF Gurkha Contingent and Royal Malaysian Police still use the older sort of vehicle as the elevated position of the cupola  gives commanders a better view of the area of operations.

The water cannon lets fly to soften up demonstrators moments before a baton charge is ordered. At close range, the jet of water can knock you off your feet. The water can be dyed to identify people soaked by the water cannon. Note the exposed flank of the thin blue line. Once a charge is ordered, tactical control of the dispersed troopers is almost impossible unless every trooper has a comms device. During street riots in South Korea, police who charged at demonstrators often found the tables turned when they were subsequently surrounded by superior numbers.

The baton charge is followed by the advance of the GC troopers, who are tasked with mopping up operations (below). This stop line comprises Tactica armoured personnel carriers and has strength in numbers, giving GC officers the option to form up their men with more depth than the SOC formation seen above and with reserves to exploit tactical situations. One assumes that the Gurkha stop line is the point beyond which demonstrators will not be allowed to cross.