The Police Pal storybook series, which was launched at the inaugural Police Pal carnival in Singapore yesterday, marks the expansion of the Police Pal community programme to include pre-schoolers, aged four to six, in addition to the engagement of primary school students.
The Police Pal carnival was held at the Central Public Library, where Sun Xueling, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Social and Family Development, was the Guest-of-Honour.
The Police Pal programme offers a suite of age-appropriate resources for students to understand the roles of Singapore Police Force officers, embark on a character-building journey, and learn how they can protect themselves against crime.
A total of 210 attendees took part in activities such as storytelling, fingerprint-dusting, colouring, and a meet-and-greet session with police officers.
During the event, Sun launched the first book of the Police Pal storybook series, titled The Boy Without His Shoes, and conducted a reading session for students from My First Skool Havelock.
MOS Sun Xueling reading to students from My First Skool Havelock. | Photo courtesy: Singapore Police Force
The storybooks will be used by Community Policing Unit (CPU) officers as an engagement tool during pre-school visits from July 2024.
MOS Sun Xueling interacting with attendees at the Police Pal Carnival. | Singapore Police Force
In addition, the Singapore Police Force is collaborating with the National Library Board (NLB) on the “Police Pal@Libraries” initiative, where CPU officers will conduct storytelling sessions at public libraries from July 5, 2024.
These sessions will be free of charge, and parents and caregivers can find out more about the sessions via the NLB’s Eventbrite page.
Children attending the storytelling sessions will also receive Police Pal activity booklets containing colouring and spot-the-difference activities, which they are encouraged to complete with their parents and/or caregivers. Through these engagements, children can get to interact with police officers and learn how the force ensures safety and security in Singapore.
Director of the Community Partnership Department, Assistant Commissioner of Police Shng Yunn Chinn, said, “We hope to harness the power of stories to increase pre-schoolers’ level of crime awareness, their understanding of the role of police officers and how everyone, adults and children alike, can work hand in hand with the police to keep Singapore safe and secure.”
The Police Pal storybooks will be distributed to major pre-school chains in Singapore, such as Ministry of Education kindergartens; PCF Sparkletots pre-schools; and NTUC My First Skool centres by the end of October 2024.
Educators may get in touch with their nearest Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC) to request for a copy of the storybook to be extended to their pre-school. The storybooks will also be available for loan from public libraries.
(The article is published under a mutual content partnership arrangement between The Free Press Journal and Connected To India)
