Most of us have our mobile devices with us but what if the battery runs out or in the event of an emergency, you don’t have the time to react, especially if you’re in a quiet area and there’s no one around to assist?
Currently, two prototypes of the Police Beacon have been installed for a one-year trial from December 2020 at Punggol Waterway Park Connector and Sengkang Riverside Park connector.
“Most of us have our mobile devices with us but what if the battery runs out or in the event of an emergency, you don’t have the time to react, especially if you’re in a quiet area and there’s no one around to assist,” shared Guan Choon.
The Police Beacon has motion detection lights that turns on when a person approaches it. (Photo credit: HTX)
“With a touch of a button on the Police Beacon, members of the public can be connected quickly and directly to the 999 police hotline in emergency situations,” he explained. This provides real-time access to the police in the event of an emergency.
Meanwhile, the Police Beacon’s siren, blinkers, floodlights and speakers can be activated from the Police Operations Command Centre (POCC) to provide deterrence before the police arrives at the scene.
“Over the past year, SPF has worked closely with HTX to develop the concept of the Police Beacon. The Police Beacon incorporates various technologies and sensors into a single platform to allow the Police to enhance public safety and increase public’s accessibility to Police services during times of emergency,” said DSP Lionel Lee, Operations Officer, Future Operations & Planning Division, Operations Department, SPF
It also incorporates CCTVs as a visible projection of police presence even when police officers are not physically present. This enables officers at POCC to assess the situation and dispatch their resources effectively.
"This will hopefully allow members of the public to have some assurance that the police are supporting them while the response team tries to arrive as soon as possible," said Minister of State for Home Affairs Desmond Tan at the launch of the Police Beacon trial on 11 December 2020.
HTX engineers also considered the need for medical help by including an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) complete with user instructions. According to Guan Choon, the moment the AED box is accessed, the police will also be alerted and assess if emergency medical services need to be mobilised.
Lim Guan Choon (second from left), together with the team of HTX PPMC engineers (left to right) Victor Yuen, Bernard Phang, Darren Pek and Wong Chee Mun, who worked on the Police Beacon Photo (Credit: HTX)
“We were thinking about various scenarios where the members of the public will be using the Police Beacon. One of the scenarios is at night when it is quieter and the surroundings may not be as brightly lit so we have also included motion detection lights that will turn on when a person approaches the Police Beacon,” observed Guan Choon.
While the Police Beacon’s features leverage existing HTX PPMC technologies, Guan Choon highlighted that the main challenge was ensuring that all the hardware fit within a compact structure.
“We were also considering outdoor elements like rain, so the design of the Police Beacon ensures that the hardware is not affected by this. The top of the Police Beacon also allows rainwater to drain so it doesn’t breed mosquitoes,” he said.
While trial of the Police Beacon has just begun, Guan Choon hopes that it will serve as an additional avenue for the public to report incidents during emergencies. Together with SPF, HTX PPMC engineers look forward to enhancing the capabilities of the Police Beacon.