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When I was in the police force, I was part of a dedicated unit whose members were specially chosen to save lives. There were about 100 of us divided into four teams, rotated monthly to be on standby, ready to respond within minutes to any crisis day or night, local or overseas.

The Crisis Negotiation Unit (CNU) celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. There was a report in the media with mention of a couple of cases. I don’t know how many people noticed it. There have also been occasional posts on social media over the years highlighting the CNU and even a few on individual members. But they never really captured how close-knit the men and women in this unit are or how much they depend on the support and understanding of their families.

Support and understanding are needed because we get called during kids’ birthday parties, family celebrations, Christmas dinners and, strangely, always after 3 am. We’d then find ourselves walking through police tape, amid officers clad in black waiting to ‘go tactical’, SCDF officers inflating airbags or waiting to drop the net for a snatch rescue and paramedics waiting to treat anyone who gets injured, to reach our main objective; someone in crisis.

Someone in crisis. Imagine having so much pain that death seems to be the only way out. Ironically, I have never met anyone who wanted to die, but I’ve met dozens who didn’t want the pain any longer. Dealing with some of these cases has sent chills down my back. It’s usually the ones who are in very precarious positions, and more so if the person is young. I remember one case where a girl the same age as one of my daughters was sitting on the parapet, let’s call her ‘Jane’. Her legs were beginning to feel numb and even if she didn’t decide to let go, her strength might fail her and she'd fall 19 storeys to her death. No airbag is going to save anyone at that height. Now someone must talk to her.

This is where the CNU team comes in. Negotiators don’t work alone, #1 (whoever might be best suited for the particular person in crisis) will do the talking, backed up by teammates who will provide protection, intel, ideas and strategy. Each team will also have psychologists who lend their expertise.

Every case is life or death. Every case is emotionally draining on the team and immeasurably more so if we lose someone, for we know that if someone dies, it’s not just this life that is lost but the impact that the loss will have on the people who loved him or her, and it is more than the person usually realises. In this case, we managed to coax Jane to come in.

Is there any wonder that the CNU members are close-knit when they attend to such cases month after month, year upon year? I’ve made many good friends in the force but I miss the CNU the most since my retirement. These officers do not need to do this. It is an extra responsibility that they have chosen to take on that is over and above their main roles in the SPF and for that they have my utmost respect and admiration.

I retired in Aug 2022, and I did notice a slight increase in the number of times we were activated and also in the number of incidents involving youths. So, it did not come as a shock to me when it was reported that there was a total of 476 suicides reported in Singapore in 2022, the highest number in more than 20 years. That was a "concerning rise" of 25.9 per cent from the 378 reported in 2021. On average, it is usually a little over one per day. Sobering statistics.

Here’s a disconcerting corollary - In 2021, the Strait Times reported that the CNU responded to 65 incidents, ranging from suicide attempts to barricaded individuals. This number was probably slightly higher in 2022. However, if there’s an average of one suicide per day, one would imagine that the CNU would be flooded with activations, but they’re not. The Samaritans of Singapore also reported that for every attempt that leads to death, there is an estimate of about 20 attempts that don’t.

So, who were the last ones to talk to these poor souls? A family member? A passerby? A neighbour, or perhaps a teacher?

What if that person was you?

#CNU #SPF