Interpol global complex in Tanglin to be ready by 2013
By Kimberly Spykerman 12 February 2011
A building smack in the middle of the busy Tanglin area will become home to international policing agency Interpol’s new global complex.
The mint-green building, formerly the Tanglin Police Station and the Tanglin Division Headquarters, will be torn down and in its place will rise Interpol’s complex, expected to be operational by the end of 2013.
Inside, research and development for forensics and database capabilities will take place to enable crimes and criminals to be identified more effectively. The complex will also give 24/7 support to Interpol’s 188 member states.
The facility will be the only one of its kind and will serve as an overseas base, said Interpol, which has its headquarters in Lyon, France. The organisation’s president is former Singapore Commissioner of Police Khoo Boon Hui.
The complex is expected to house about 300 employees, including law enforcement officers seconded from the police forces of Interpol’s member states as well as staff directly employed by Interpol.
Though US$2 million (S$2.6 million) was pledged towards the 0.9ha building at the Interpol General Assembly meeting in Qatar last November, the total cost is expected to be more.
At the building’s ground-breaking ceremony yesterday, Minister for Law and Home Affairs K. Shanmugam said the Government would grant a special visa of up to five years for those who needed to travel here frequently on official Interpol business.
He said the site on which the complex would be built had special significance for the Singapore Police Force, as Tanglin Division was - and still is - responsible for the security of Singapore’s main shopping and entertainment strips. The division has since moved to Kampong Java Road, although some specialised police units still use the building.
Mr. Shanmugam, referring to the location of the Interpol building, said: ‘We felt that, by being located in the heart of the embassy belt and the city area, the new complex would give Interpol easy access to the international community as well as its local partners.’
Interpol secretary-general Ronald Noble said the upcoming complex reflected the agency’s status as a truly global entity.
In earlier interviews, he had said the decision to increase Interpol’s presence in the Asia-Pacific was made because of the region’s rising economic activity, which is expected to lead to a rise in criminal activity.
Singapore was picked, he said, because of its strategic location and strong regional ties, its focus on innovation and research as well as the talent of its workforce.
Mr. Shanmugam said that, with global economies becoming more intertwined, organised crime had become similarly global, so that, ‘without international collaboration across police agencies, criminal syndicates will run riot’.
Last year, an Interpol operation across Asia led to more than 5,000 arrests for involvement in illegal World Cup football betting. Police officers from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and China swooped down on nearly 800 gambling dens which were processing more than US$155 million (S$198 million) in bets.
The betting was linked to other organised crimes such as money laundering, corruption and prostitution.
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Interpol global complex in Tanglin to be ready by 2013
By Kimberly Spykerman
12 February 2011
A building smack in the middle of the busy Tanglin area will become home to international policing agency Interpol’s new global complex.
The mint-green building, formerly the Tanglin Police Station and the Tanglin Division Headquarters, will be torn down and in its place will rise Interpol’s complex, expected to be operational by the end of 2013.
Inside, research and development for forensics and database capabilities will take place to enable crimes and criminals to be identified more effectively. The complex will also give 24/7 support to Interpol’s 188 member states.
The facility will be the only one of its kind and will serve as an overseas base, said Interpol, which has its headquarters in Lyon, France. The organisation’s president is former Singapore Commissioner of Police Khoo Boon Hui.
The complex is expected to house about 300 employees, including law enforcement officers seconded from the police forces of Interpol’s member states as well as staff directly employed by Interpol.
Though US$2 million (S$2.6 million) was pledged towards the 0.9ha building at the Interpol General Assembly meeting in Qatar last November, the total cost is expected to be more.
At the building’s ground-breaking ceremony yesterday, Minister for Law and Home Affairs K. Shanmugam said the Government would grant a special visa of up to five years for those who needed to travel here frequently on official Interpol business.
He said the site on which the complex would be built had special significance for the Singapore Police Force, as Tanglin Division was - and still is - responsible for the security of Singapore’s main shopping and entertainment strips. The division has since moved to Kampong Java Road, although some specialised police units still use the building.
Mr. Shanmugam, referring to the location of the Interpol building, said: ‘We felt that, by being located in the heart of the embassy belt and the city area, the new complex would give Interpol easy access to the international community as well as its local partners.’
Interpol secretary-general Ronald Noble said the upcoming complex reflected the agency’s status as a truly global entity.
In earlier interviews, he had said the decision to increase Interpol’s presence in the Asia-Pacific was made because of the region’s rising economic activity, which is expected to lead to a rise in criminal activity.
Singapore was picked, he said, because of its strategic location and strong regional ties, its focus on innovation and research as well as the talent of its workforce.
Mr. Shanmugam said that, with global economies becoming more intertwined, organised crime had become similarly global, so that, ‘without international collaboration across police agencies, criminal syndicates will run riot’.
Last year, an Interpol operation across Asia led to more than 5,000 arrests for involvement in illegal World Cup football betting. Police officers from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and China swooped down on nearly 800 gambling dens which were processing more than US$155 million (S$198 million) in bets.
The betting was linked to other organised crimes such as money laundering, corruption and prostitution.
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