SINGAPORE, April 21 — A 74-year-old security guard was left "injured and bleeding" after being assaulted by a condominium resident in Potong Pasir last week, said the Union of Security Employees (USE).

It is the third reported case of a security officer being abused in the space of two weeks, the union said in a Facebook post on Friday (April 21).

It added that it was "appalled at the egregious nature of this latest incident", which occurred in the early hours of April 14.

USE said that the security officer had witnessed an "altercation" between a male resident and a taxi driver outside the condominium's guardhouse.

"The resident approached the security officer aggressively, shouting at him. He then assaulted the security officer repeatedly, leaving him injured and bleeding," the post read.

The guard then called the police. USE said that it has also helped to file a police report over the incident.

The victim is now on medical leave and his employer is taking care of his medical expenses.

Representatives from the union also visited the injured man in his home and presented him with some quick relief vouchers.

A close-up image shared by USE in its post showed a bloody gash on the security guard's head.

Responding to TODAY's queries, a USE spokesperson said that according to the guard, the resident had allegedly used his mobile phone to hit him on his head, as well as kicked him.

The Private Security Industry Act was enhanced from May last year to "offer our officers more protection against abuse", the union said in its post.

Its general secretary Raymond Chin told TODAY on Friday that beyond the enhancements to the law, more could be done to bring attention to the issue of security guard abuse.

For instance, USE has worked with government and business partners, including the Ministry of Home Affairs, to issue decals around sites with a security presence in Singapore to warn against abuse of security officers.

It has also developed a mobile application for security guards to "readily file reports whenever they are abused".

Two other cases in April

Responding to queries from TODAY, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) provided statistics of abuse cases that USE has handled in recent years.

NTUC said there were nine abuse cases in 2021 and 55 cases in 2022. So far in 2023, there have been 15 cases.

Amid the marked rise in cases, USE noted that this is the third case of abuse that it has attended to this month.

On April 3, a security guard was verbally abused at Thomson Grand condominium by a man demanding that the wheel clamp on his car be removed.

Then, on April 13, another security guard was confronted and verbally abused by a man whose car was wheel clamped at WCEGA Plaza in Bukit Batok.

"No one goes to work expecting to be assaulted," said USE on Friday. "Our officers are merely doing their jobs, performing duties given to them."

Under the enhanced Private Security Industry Act, anyone found guilty of intentionally causing harassment, alarm or distress to a security worker can be fined up to S$5,000 or jailed up to 12 months, or both.

Those found guilty of assaulting or using criminal force on a security worker can be fined up to S$7,500 or jailed up to two years, or both.

As for those found guilty of voluntarily causing hurt, they are liable to be fined up to S$10,000 or jailed up to five years, or both.

"We stand firmly against any acts of abuse on our officers, and will work closely with the authorities to ensure that acts of abuse are attended to," said the union in its post. "We will also offer our officers our fullest support to tide them through."

The issue of security guard abuse was thrust into the spotlight in 2019, when Eight Riversuites resident Ramesh Erramalli was captured in a viral video verbally abusing a security guard over a S$10 parking fee for visitors after 11pm. — TODAY