PART 3 | SECURITY OFFICERS AND SECURITY AGENCIES |
| Division 1 — Licensing and regulatory matters |
| Meaning of “security officer” |
13. In this Act, “security officer” means any individual who, for reward, carries out any of the following functions:| (a) | patrolling or guarding another person’s property (including cash in transit) by physical means (which may involve the use of patrol dogs) or by electronic means; | | (b) | keeping the property (including cash in transit) of another person under surveillance, including for the purpose of preventing theft thereof; | | (c) | acting as a bodyguard or bouncer; | | (d) | in respect of any public place or other premises and as part of his or her regular duties, performing any function of screening individuals seeking entry thereto; | | (e) | regulating traffic under the Road Traffic Act 1961. |
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| No person to be security officer without security officer’s licence |
14.—(1) A person must not —| (a) | carry out for reward any function of a security officer; or | | (b) | advertise, or in any way hold out, that the person carries out or is willing to carry out for reward any function of a security officer, |
| except under and in accordance with a security officer’s licence granted under this Act. |
| (2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both. |
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| No person to supply security officers’ services without security agency’s licence |
15.—(1) A person must not —| (a) | engage in the business of supplying, for reward, the services of security officers to other persons; or | | (b) | advertise, or in any way hold out, that the person supplies for reward, or is willing to supply for reward, the services of security officers, |
| except under and in accordance with a security agency’s licence granted under this Act. |
| (2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both. |
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| Employees who are security officers |
16.—(1) A person must not employ another person as a security officer unless the other person is a licensed security officer.| (2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both. |
(3) A person (whether or not a licensed security agency) who employs, or is about to employ, as a security officer any person who is a licensed security officer must —| (a) | before employing the licensed security officer; and | | (b) | not later than 14 days after terminating the employment of the licensed security officer, |
| inform the licensing officer in the prescribed form and manner of the proposed employment or termination of employment, as the case may be. |
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| (4) Where an employer or a former employer of a licensed security officer contravenes subsection (3), the employer or former employer (as the case may be) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both. |
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| Employees who are not security officers |
17.—(1) A licensed security agency must, not later than 14 days after —| (a) | employing any person other than as a security officer, such as secretarial, clerical or other staff of a similar kind, to assist in the business of the security agency; or | | (b) | terminating the employment of any such employee mentioned in paragraph (a), |
| inform the licensing officer in the prescribed form and manner of the employment or termination of employment, as the case may be. |
(2) If the licensing officer is of the opinion that any person who is employed other than as a security officer by a licensed security agency is not a fit and proper person to be so employed, the licensing officer may —| (a) | give written notice of his or her opinion to the licensed security agency, stating the name of that person; and | | (b) | despite any other law or the provisions of any memorandum or articles of association or other constitution of the licensed security agency, direct the licensed security agency to terminate the employment of the person named in the notice given under paragraph (a). |
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| (3) A licensed security agency that contravenes subsection (1) or fails to comply with any direction under subsection (2)(b) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both. |
(4) In deciding for the purposes of subsection (2) whether an employee is a fit and proper person to be employed other than as a security officer by a licensed security agency, the licensing officer may consider the following matters as indicating that the employee may not be a fit and proper person:| (a) | that the employee had on a previous occasion applied for a security officer’s licence or a security agency’s licence, and such application had been refused by the licensing officer; | | (b) | that the employee associates with a criminal in a way that indicates involvement in an unlawful activity; | | (c) | that in dealings in which the employee has been involved, the employee has shown dishonesty or lack of integrity; or | | (d) | that the continued employment of the employee is not in the public interest or may pose a threat to national security. |
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| Division 2 — Protection from assault and harassment |
| Assaulting or using criminal force on security officer |
17A.—(1) An individual who assaults or uses criminal force on a person (called in this section the target person) —| (a) | in the execution of the target person’s duty as a security officer; | | (b) | with intent to prevent or deter the target person from discharging his or her duty as a security officer; or | | (c) | in consequence of anything done or attempted to be done by the target person in the lawful discharge of his or her duty as a security officer, |
| shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $7,500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both. |
| (2) In this section, “assault” and “criminal force” are to be construed in accordance with sections 349, 350 and 351 of the Penal Code 1871*. [Act 29 of 2021 wef 01/05/2022] [*Updated to be consistent with the 2020 Revised Edition] |
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| Voluntarily causing hurt to security officer |
17B.—(1) An individual who voluntarily causes hurt to a person (called in this section the target person) —| (a) | in the execution of the target person’s duty as a security officer; | | (b) | with intent to prevent or deter the target person from discharging his or her duty as a security officer; or | | (c) | in consequence of anything done or attempted to be done by the target person in the lawful discharge of his or her duty as a security officer, |
| shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both. |
| (2) In this section, “voluntarily causes hurt” is to be construed in accordance with section 321 of the Penal Code 1871*. [Act 29 of 2021 wef 01/05/2022] [*Updated to be consistent with the 2020 Revised Edition] |
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| Intentionally causing harassment, alarm or distress to security officer |
17C.—(1) An individual must not by any means —| (a) | use any indecent, threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour; or | | (b) | make any indecent, threatening, abusive or insulting communication, |
| towards a person (called in this section the target person) in relation to the execution of the target person’s duty as a security officer, with the intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress to the target person and as a result causing the target person harassment, alarm or distress. |
| (2) Subject to section 17D, an individual who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both. |
(3) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (2), it is a defence for the accused to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that —| (a) | the accused did not know and had no reason to believe that the words or behaviour used, or the communication made, would be heard, seen or otherwise perceived by the target person; or | | (b) | the accused’s conduct was reasonable. |
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| (4) However, for the purposes of this section, a target person is not treated as executing a duty as a security officer or acting in the capacity of a security officer if the target person is, at the relevant time, also a public service worker as defined in section 6(5) of the Protection from Harassment Act 2014* and acting in the capacity of such a public service worker. [Act 29 of 2021 wef 01/05/2022] [*Updated to be consistent with the 2020 Revised Edition] |
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| Enhanced penalty for section 17C offence committed subsequently |
17D. An individual who has been convicted of any offence under —| (a) | the repealed section 13A, 13B, 13C or 13D of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act 1906* as in force before 15 November 2014 (whether the conviction was before, on or after that date); | | (b) | section 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 of the Protection from Harassment Act 2014*; or | | (c) | section 17C, |
| shall, on a subsequent conviction for an offence under section 17C, be liable to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both. |
[Act 29 of 2021 wef 01/05/2022] [*Updated to be consistent with the 2020 Revised Edition] |
| Requisite knowledge that target person is acting as security officer |
| 17E. No offence is committed by an individual under section 17A(1), 17B(1) or 17C(2) unless the individual knows or ought reasonably to know that the target person mentioned in section 17A(1), 17B(1) or 17C(1) was at the material time a security officer and acting in that capacity. [Act 29 of 2021 wef 01/05/2022] |
| Application of Protection from Harassment Act 2014* |
| 17F.—(1) A reference in sections 12(1), (2), (2A) and (2B)(b), 13(1)(a)(i) and (ii) and (1A) and 13A(1)(a) and (3)(a) of the Protection from Harassment Act 2014* to a contravention or an alleged contravention, or an offence, under section 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 of that Act includes a contravention or an alleged contravention, or an offence, under section 17C(2), as the case may be. [*Updated to be consistent with the 2020 Revised Edition] (2) The following provisions of the Protection from Harassment Act 2014* apply with the necessary modifications because of subsection (1):| (a) | section 10; | | (b) | Division 1 of Part 3 (except section 11); | | (c) | sections 16C, 16CB and 16D; | | (d) | Part 3A; | | (e) | sections 19, 20 and 21; | | (f) | the Schedule as it applies in relation to sections 12(2A)(a) and 13(1A)(a). [*Updated to be consistent with the 2020 Revised Edition] |
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| (3) Any word or expression used in, or relevant for the purpose of interpreting, section 17C, 17D, 17E or this section and that is defined in section 2(1) of the Protection from Harassment Act 2014* has the meaning given to it by section 2(1) of that Act. [Act 29 of 2021 wef 01/05/2022] [*Updated to be consistent with the 2020 Revised Edition] |
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