Singapore — The Singapore Police Force issued a statement on Tuesday (Jun 29) refuting the claims of a man who said he was abused by the police after he was arrested for drink-driving last year.
Many netizens have taken the side of the police and have called the man out for drink-driving in the first place.
The story of the man, See Kian Beng, was featured in a Jun 28 article in The Online Citizen Asia (TOC). He detailed the alleged mistreatment at Cantonment Police Station after he was arrested in the early morning hours of Feb 14, 2020.
See admitted to having had “a glass or two of beer” with friends on the evening of his arrest, but said his breathalyser test had been inconclusive.
He claims to have suffered both physically and mentally from the police’s mistreatment, had filed complaints about the alleged abuse, and even appealed to Jalan Besar MP, Heng Chee How as well as Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam for help.
See said he was thrown into a padded cell despite telling the police he is claustrophobic and was manhandled by 6-8 officers, pinned to the ground by an officer using his elbow, and that his feet were stepped on.
He added that he was kept in the cell for over three hours, was not allowed to use the toilet, and therefore relieved himself in one corner of the cell, suffered from the cold in the room, and was not given anything to eat or drink.
However, the police say that See has given “a misleading impression, because he has not set out the full facts.”
The police said that See had been “attended to by Nursing Officers on two occasions and he was assessed to be fit for detention.”
As for his breathalyser test, the police said he had “failed his initial” test, but passed the further test administered via the Breath Evidential Analyser (BEA) machine “with a recorded result of 31 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath, which was just below the legal limit of 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 ml of breath.”
It was because of failing the first breathalyser test that he was legally arrested and “processed in accordance with the rules for persons arrested and brought into Police custody.”
See was brought to wait in a temporary holding area while the BEA test and other investigations were carried out, and then to another holding area to wait while his release was processed.
“However, See refused to enter the temporary holding area as he told officers to the effect that he was claustrophobic and would harm himself if put into the temporary holding area again.”
Because of the threat to harm himself, the officers put him in a padded cell, to which the police say See “put up a strong resistance and struggled.”
“Despite repeated advice by the officers, See refused to comply with officers’ instruction. Officers therefore had to apply necessary force to physically move him into the padded cell.”
And contrary to his narrative, the police say he had been allowed to use the toilet twice.
On one occasion when See had requested to use the toilet, he was found sleeping, and the officers did not wake him. When breakfast was served, he was also sleeping, so he was not woken up.
The police acknowledged the complaint See filed that detailed his injuries but said they were consistent with the efforts made to put him in the padded cell.
“The Police also conducted internal investigations including reviewing the CCTV recordings. We did not find any abuse or wrongdoing. The findings were conveyed to See in Jun 2020.
See then wrote in again one year later, on 2 Jun 2021, to enquire about this case. The Police had tried to contact him on two separate occasions and offered to arrange a further interview with him to hear his concerns. However, he declined to be interviewed.”
Many netizens have sided with the police in the matter.
Some commenters called See out for having driven despite consuming alcohol.
One netizen even called the police in Singapore “mild.” 
/TISG