Singapore Police to investigate racial slurs and racism among its officers as 'possible misconduct' after Indian-origin officer's death

Singapore: The Singapore Police Force will investigate racial slurs and racism among its officers as “possible misconduct” and “a disciplinary breach” after the death of an Indian-origin officer who had posted on Facebook about being bullied by seniors in the force, Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said on Tuesday.

Shanmugam's remarks came while delivering a ministerial statement in parliament on the death of Sergeant Uvaraja Gopal last year.

The 35-year-old officer died by suicide on July 21 after he was found lying motionless at the foot of an apartment block. He had served with the police for more than 10 years.

In a Facebook post that was later removed, SGT Uvaraja said he had been bullied by his superiors and subjected to ethnic slurs by his teammates. He also alleged that some officers’ misconduct was covered up, his performance appraisals were unfair to him and he was ostracised at work.

Shanmugam told the House, “Since the incident, the police conducted a review of their policies, and there is a framework of approach for these cases.

“Cases involving racial slurs or casual racism will be investigated as possible misconduct, as a disciplinary breach. This is to ensure that there is a record of such an incident and that disciplinary action would be taken and the officer’s subsequent behaviour will be closely monitored.” The police will “also continue to engage officers, shape culture, and engage in frank discussion” on such issues around racial slurs or casual racism through platforms like the annual ethics seminar, said Shanmugam.

The SPF said SGT Uvaraja had made allegations against his superiors and teammates in 2015, adding that these were looked into and found to be unsubstantiated.

But following SGT Uvaraja’s death, Shanmugam asked SPF to conduct another investigation and for the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) to review the findings.

On Tuesday, Shanmugam told the House that AGC has reviewed the findings of SPF’s latest investigation and determined that “no further actions were needed”.

The investigations found some of SGT Uvaraja’s allegations to be true. Some officers involved were disciplined or punished at the time, according to the Channel report.

But other allegations were false, the minister added.

Shanmugam said that he “would have preferred not to go into the details” of the investigation findings out of respect for Uvaraja’s memory and in consideration for his family, but it was in the public interest to deal with his allegations.

Uvaraja’s family has been told in detail what the ministerial statement will contain, and they “know and understand why we have to set out the facts".