SINGAPORE: Yet another security officer has been assaulted for merely doing his job, in the third case of abuse on security officers in April alone.
The victim in this most recent case is a 74-year-old security officer who was on duty at a condominium in Potong Pasir when the incident occurred in the early hours of April 14.
According to the Union of Security Employees (USE), the security officer witnessed an altercation between a male Chinese resident and a taxi driver outside the guardhouse. The resident then approached the security officer aggressively and started shouting at him.
The resident repeatedly assaulted the security officer, leaving him injured and bleeding. The security officer is now on medical leave, and his company is covering his medical expenses.
Strongly condemning the egregious assault, USE said yesterday (21 Apr) that it is helping the victim to lodge a police report. Asserting that no one goes to work expecting to be assaulted, the union said that security officers are merely performing their duties and should be treated with dignity and respect.
The union has also called for stricter enforcement of the law to deal with rising cases of abuse against security officers, noting that incidents of abuse continue to occur even though the Private Security Industry Act was enhanced to offer security officers more protection against abuse last May.
The USE added that it would work closely with the authorities to ensure that such incidents are attended to promptly and continue to offer its fullest support to security officers to help them tide through such incidents.
This latest incident comes just one week after another security officer working at the WCEGA Plaza was mistreated for doing his job. Over 40 per cent of a sample of 1,002 security officers reported experiencing verbal or physical abuse at work, according to an earlier study by USE and SUSS’s Centre for Applied Research.
Yet another security guard faces unprovoked abuse for wheel-clamping a car