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Women

PETITE BUT PACKING A PUNCH, SHE LEADS AN ELITE POLICE TEAM THAT PROTECTS
SINGAPOREANS FROM VIOLENCE

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Women


PETITE BUT PACKING A PUNCH, SHE LEADS AN ELITE POLICE TEAM THAT PROTECTS
SINGAPOREANS FROM VIOLENCE

Gang fights, assault and terrorism - just some of the incidents Inspector
Priscilla Lim has to deal with as part of the Emergency Response Team that
protects Singaporeans from some of the most violent offences in the country. She
tells CNA Women what her training entailed and what a typical work day is like.

Meet Priscilla Lim, a 27-year-old Emergency Response Team officer whose job is
to prevent and respond to terror attacks, and neutralise cases involving
firearms and dangerous weapons. (Photo: CNA/Gaya Chandramohan)

ANNIE TAN

Annie Tan
15 Dec 2022 07:00AM (Updated: 15 Dec 2022 07:43AM)
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It was 11pm on a quiet night when Inspector Priscilla Lim received an urgent
call. A man in Pasir Ris had allegedly threatened his neighbour with a knife.
Police intel revealed that he was wanted for drug offences and other violent
offences.

Insp Lim rushed to the scene with her team, but the man had already fled to one
of the nearby HDB flats. Her team of four split into two and flanked the two
staircases on each side of the building, combing it from the top.


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When she and her partner heard shouting from the other side of the building,
they ran towards it.

“We saw my teammates grabbing onto this guy who was dangling precariously off
the ledge of the second floor of the building. He kept screaming for them to let
him go and said he wanted to die,” she recalled. “I believe he was high on
drugs. We finally managed to pull him up and arrest him.”

Lim does mobile and foot patrol to look out for suspicious activities and signs
of terrorism while on standby for cases involving firearms or dangerous weapons.
(Photo: CNA/Gaya Chandramohan)

An hour later, around midnight, Insp Lim received another call. This time, a
woman in Pasir Ris had reportedly refused her husband’s sexual advances and had
locked herself in a room. Her husband was banging on the door with a hammer. Lim
and her team rushed to her aid and seized the hammer.

Before her night shift was over, Insp Lim received one last call reporting a
gang fight in Geylang. However, when she arrived, the gang had already
dispersed. So she spent the rest of her shift on mobile patrol looking out for
the suspects.

 


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Meet Priscilla Lim, an Emergency Response Team (ERT) Team Leader. The night she
described was just the second day of her job leading a team of four, from this
specialised tactical unit within the Singapore Police Force (SPF).

Insp Lim’s responsibility is to prevent and respond to terror attacks, as well
as cases involving firearms and dangerous weapons such as parangs and knives. On
regular days, she patrols the east side of Singapore from Geylang to Pasir Ris
and Changi, as well as high footfall areas such as the shopping malls and bus
interchanges, looking out for signs of suspicious activities and terrorism.

RELATED:

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A FEMALE INVESTIGATION OFFICER IN SINGAPORE?

TURNING HEADS AND PERCEPTIONS

It is a dangerous job, and Insp Lim is highly trained in the use of weapons,
combat tactics and close-quarters battle. Unlike regular police officers, she is
usually fully armed with a submachine gun, pistol, bullet-resistant vest,
ballistic helmet and extra rounds of ammunition, even while just on patrol.

That’s right – Insp Lim rarely gears down during her nine- to 12-hour shifts. If
high intensity chases are involved, she does it with 17kg of gear. Even if she’s
just in the office doing paperwork, taking a lunch break or going to the toilet,
she does it in full gear so as to be always combat ready.


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It’s rare to see police officers in this sort of full combat gear, much less
female officers. That is why Insp Lim is always turning heads.

“When we go for patrol or buy food, people will take a second look. They even
stare at me when I am washing my hands in the toilet,” she laughed. “Sometimes,
they will ask me if my gear is heavy or not.”

Previous
One thing Lim did not expect before joining the Emergency Response Team is that
she would have to wear a 10kg bullet-resistant vest everywhere throughout her
nine- to 12-hour shift. “We try not to take (our gear) off even in the office
because we never know when a routine case can escalate into something more
serious, so we need to always be ready to respond to incidents,” said Lim.
(Photo: CNA/Gaya Chandramohan)… see more One thing Lim did not expect before
joining the Emergency Response Team is that she would have to wear a 10kg
bullet-resistant vest everywhere throughout her nine- to 12-hour shift. “We try
not to take (our gear) off even in the office because we never know when a
routine case can escalate into something more serious, so we need to always be
ready to respond to incidents,” said Lim. (Photo: CNA/Gaya Chandramohan)…
see more One thing Lim did not expect before joining the Emergency Response Team
is that she would have to wear a 10kg bullet-resistant vest everywhere
throughout her nine- to 12-hour shift.
Next
 * 1
 * 2

Insp Lim gets this question a lot not just because she is a woman, but also
because she is petite. The 27-year-old stands at 1.54m tall and weighs 49kg.
When standing beside her teammates, some of whom are 1.8m tall, the contrast is
quite stark.

“If you see me out of uniform, you won’t believe I am a police officer,” she
laughed.

Beyond turning heads, what she really takes pride in is turning around common
stereotypes about gender and size.


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“Even as a child, I have always been smaller than most. And because of my
height, people often make fun of me and underestimate me. That’s why I picked up
martial arts to defend myself,” said Insp Lim, who is trained in aikido, wushu,
Muay Thai and Krav Maga, an Israeli martial arts. As a tertiary student, she
competed in the Singapore National Wushu and Sanda Championship, winning gold
medals for three individual and two group events.

“As an ERT officer, I know I cannot win based on my height and weight, so I have
to win through my skills,” she said, adding that she practises Krav Maga twice a
week, and runs between 2.4km and 10km thrice a week, with a weighted vest.

> This job is dangerous but very impactful. If you can dissuade someone from
> committing suicide, or take someone dangerous down, you may save a life and
> have a direct impact on the community.

She became interested in standing up for justice and maintaining social order
from a young age. Her father was a Volunteer Special Constabulary (VSC) officer
for 35 years, helping to keep Singapore streets safe. The stories he shared with
her, and their father-daughter ritual of watching the television programme
Crimewatch together, made her realise how meaningful police work could be.

Then, while on a student exchange to Germany as an undergraduate, she attended a
social seminar and met a survivor of sexual crime whose perpetrator was not
punished. The then-21-year-old decided that very day, to follow in her father’s
footsteps and sign on as a VSC officer.

That was the beginning of her SPF journey. While still in university, she
trained for six months under the VSC programme before being deployed as a Ground
Response Officer responding to 999 calls.

After graduating from university, she joined SPF full-time, where she underwent
nine months of training before being posted to a Neighbourhood Police Centre and
then an Investigation Branch.

Despite her young age, Lim (second from left) leads a team of elite ERT troopers
who respect her and have her back. (Photo: CNA/Gaya Chandramohan)

“When I was due for my new posting as team leader last year, there were ongoing
terror threats around the world. I felt that Singapore may not be spared and
wanted to be in a position to do something in times of crisis, so I decided to
join the ERT,” she said.

SURVIVING ARDUOUS TRAINING

To qualify as an ERT officer, Insp Lim had to undergo four weeks of gruelling
training at the Special Operations Command. This included physical training,
where trainees have to run, complete circuit training and rope training with a
10kg weighted vest. She also underwent range training with submachine guns and
pistols, and learned how to transit quickly from one weapon to another in case
of malfunction.

That was her favourite part. “It felt like being in a thriller or action movie
where the hero would sling their submachine gun back and quickly transit to
their side arms or pistol,” she laughed.

She also underwent close-quarters battle training in simulation exercises
against paper targets and a gunman – usually the trainer – and learned important
strategies such as how to enter different types of rooms in dangerous
situations.

It was a tough course. For instance, ERT trainees are expected to shoot with at
least 70 per cent accuracy at a range of up to 25m to qualify. They are also
assessed for tactical knowledge and judgement, and can be disqualified if they
make bad decisions that pose safety hazards during close-quarters battle
training.

“Many people thought I wouldn’t make it because of my size. We were all expected
to carry the same weight while training. So I carried the same weight as an 80kg
man,” she said, adding that there were only six female trainees in the class of
24.

Lim rides a sleek black ERT vehicle that alerts road users that the team is
rushing to a scene. (Photo: CNA/Gaya Chandramohan)

Insp Lim also put pressure on herself. “I was only 26, and my team included
people who were a lot more experienced than I was. The oldest guy in my team was
40. So when I had to step in the role of team leader, I sometimes doubted my own
tactical decisions,” she said.

“But my teammates assured me that whatever decision I made, they would follow me
throughout the whole assault. Knowing that my team will always have my back gave
me the confidence to lead them. But I always made it a point to remain humble
and ask for my men’s opinion during the after-action review to learn from them.”

PUTTING HER LIFE ON THE LINE

Insp Lim has since experienced her fair share of action. Since her job involves
cases related to dangerous weapons, she is often involved in drug-related cases,
violent assaults, as well as suicide attempts, in some cases.

“There was one case in Geylang where a guy stabbed a woman whom he claimed to be
his girlfriend multiple times because she refused to follow him to a hotel. We
managed to trace the suspect back to his house and found him sitting outside.

“He told us what happened and pointed us to a bag beside him where the (assault)
knife was. But after talking for a while, he suddenly got aggressive and
violent. While making the arrest, he bit one of my officers and kicked the groin
of another,” she recounted.

Another time, when she was trying to stop a drug offender from killing herself,
the offender put up a big struggle. “I pinned her down with two other female
officers. But she was very strong because she was high on drugs and she bit one
of the officers. Such bites can be dangerous because of the risk of HIV and
other contagious diseases,” she said.

Insp Lim however, believes in confronting such dangers head on. “Because, if not
me, then who?” she asked.

“If everybody fears for their own safety and don’t want to do this job, there
will be a lot more people who are suffering and don’t get their justice served,”
said Lim. (Photo: CNA/Gaya Chandramohan)

“This job is dangerous but very impactful. If you can dissuade someone from
committing suicide, or take someone dangerous down, you may save a life and have
a direct impact on the community,” she said.

Besides keeping law and order, she also believes in the importance of continued
vigilance against terrorism. “A lot of my friends and family members like to say
that Singapore is very safe. But anything can happen. And when people are so
confident, it concerns me,” she added.

“As an ERT officer, I hope to keep Singapore safe and secure despite the rising
terror threats around the world. I think the current generation tends to be more
violent because they are playing more violent computer games and may have
difficulty separating the games from real life. They can also take on more
extremist viewpoints because of the Internet and social media,” she said.

“We have to be vigilant and make sure when we do our patrols, it is not just to
project police presence, but also to detect suspicious activity. We should nip
these in the bud rather than wait for things to happen and then respond to it.
That would be too late,” she said.

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04:10 Min
How does it feel like to patrol Singapore and respond to violent incidents – all
while wearing and carrying 17kg of equipment and gear the entire day? Inspector
Priscilla Lim of the ERT Bedok Division takes us through… her day. see more

CNA Women is a section on CNA Lifestyle that seeks to inform, empower and
inspire the modern woman. If you have women-related news, issues and ideas to
share with us, email CNAWomen@mediacorp.com.sg.

Source: CNA/pc



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