SINGAPORE, March 7 — To plug an existing operational gap faced by police officers when they apprehend mentally disordered persons, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) tabled a Bill in Parliament today proposing to clarify when officers may search, restrain and use necessary force on such suspects.
Through the Law Enforcement and Other Matters Bill, the ministry is also seeking to amend several other laws, including the introduction of new offences that would criminalize the misuse of local SIM cards for scams and other criminal activities.
Other legal amendments proposed under the Bill include new offences on misusing symbols and corporate logos belonging to Yellow Ribbon Singapore for ill intent, as well as rectifying the unintended coverage of a law that effectively criminalizes simulated phishing exercises meant to train people to guard against phishing attacks.
The tabling of the Bill follows a High Court case earlier this year, when a mentally disordered man was awarded S$20,000 (RM70,404) in damages as the court found he had been falsely imprisoned by the police.
The man successfully argued that two police officers had abused their powers when they arrested him. The court heard arguments that police officers had no authority to apprehend him under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act, also known as MHCTA, and also failed to take him to a medical practitioner right away.
MHCTA empowers authorities to detain persons with or suspected of having mental health conditions, and who may be a risk to self or pose a danger to others, in a designated psychiatric institution for psychiatric assessment and treatment.
The court ultimately ruled that one of the officers carried out the arrest because he disliked the man and not because he genuinely believed the man was a danger because of a mental disorder.
