Safe-distancing enforcement officers can enter homes without warrants to check compliance with COVID-19 rules: URA
]
SINGAPORE: Safe-distancing enforcement officers can enter, inspect and search “various premises, including residences”, without a warrant to check that COVID-19 regulations are being complied with, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said on Monday (Aug 2).
The authority issued the clarification after actor Nick Mikhail posted videos on social media, detailing an inspection at his home by police officers and URA officers, who he initially described as being from the National Environment Agency (NEA).
Advertisement
Advertisement
In a seven-and-a-half-minute video, which has been viewed more than 100,000 times on Instagram, Mr Nick Mikhail questioned why the officers entered his home without a warrant or a court order.
He said he was not at home at the time and his wife, who was resting at home, let the officers in. He also asked why a male officer had escorted his wife into another room, even though there was a female officer in the house at the time.
A video captured by a CCTV camera was also uploaded to his Instagram account, showing officers in a house. The video has been viewed more than 60,000 times as of Monday night.
Advertisement
Advertisement
URA CLARIFICATION
In its clarification, URA said it has contacted Mr Nick Mikhail to “address his concerns”.
The authority said officers were responding to “repeated complaints” from residents of the estate that some homes, including Mr Nick Mikhail’s, were “having gatherings with more than the permitted number of visitors”.
“There were also complaints about the noise generated from the alleged gatherings,” added URA.
Advertisement
During Phase 2 (Heightened Alert), group sizes for social gatherings are limited to two people. There is also be a cap of two distinct visitors per household per day.
“In response to the feedback, officers from different agencies had been deployed to the estate to check for potential infringements of the COVID-19 regulations as well as noise,” URA said.
“Safe-distancing enforcement officers are empowered to enter, inspect and search various premises, including residences, without a warrant, to check whether the COVID-19 regulations are being complied with.
“Nonetheless, officers will calibrate their approach for each premises, based on the circumstances of each case.”
URA also provided its account of the inspection of Mr Nick Mikhail’s home. On Saturday, six officers - comprising three safe-distancing enforcement officers from URA and three police officers - conducted joint enforcement checks on a few residences in the estate, including Mr Nick Mikhail’s, said the authority.
“Upon arrival at Mr Nick Mikhail’s residence, the officers observed that the gate was wide open and that the lights in the house were turned on," added URA.
“They also spotted two cars parked outside the residence, and thus proceeded to ascertain whether there were any visitors in the unit, and if the numbers were within permissible limits.”
The authority said the officers knocked on the door of the house and identified themselves. They explained the purpose of their visit after a woman opened the door.
“She agreed to allow the officers entry, and escorted them around the house to facilitate their checks,” said URA.
“All three of URA’s safe-distancing enforcement officers, one of whom is female, followed her in a single file for the inspection, and were mostly in each other’s line of sight.
“Towards the end of the inspection, the female occupant went to retrieve her IC from the next room, with one of the safe-distancing enforcement officers following after to take down the details.
“A police officer, and the female safe-distancing enforcement officer joined them in the next room shortly after.”
URA said that the inspection was completed in less than 10 minutes and that the officers left to inspect other homes in the area after making sure that nobody else was in Mr Nick Mikhail’s house.
“The safe-distancing enforcement officers and police officers were polite towards the female occupant and treated her with respect throughout the inspection," said URA.
Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram
URA: Safe distancing officers can enter & inspect homes for Covid-19 rule breaches without warrant
]
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has responded to Singapore actor Nick Mikhail who expressed his dissatisfaction on Instagram at how the authorities conducted an inspection at his place of residence recently.
Mikhail took issue with how the officers entered his home without a warrant, which saw a male officer enter a room with his wife even though a female officer was present, as well as how he felt his privacy was invaded as the female officer was looking at a photo frame while in the premises.
The post with a CCTV footage garnered over 60,000 views in a day.
The inspection was carried out at his residence when his wife was alone and feeling under the weather after taking her second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, Mikhail said.
No warrant needed
In response to this incident, URA said in a media statement that they have contacted Mikhail to address his concerns and would like to provide clarification on what happened.
URA said that agencies had received repeated complaints from residents of the landed housing estate that some residences, including Mikhail’s, were having gatherings with more than the permitted number of visitors since late June this year.
There were also complaints about the noise generated from the alleged gatherings.
As such, officers from different agencies, including the police, were deployed to the estate to check for potential infringements of Covid-19 regulations, as well as noise.
No warrant is needed for safe distancing enforcement officers to do such inspections, URA said.
According to URA:
“Safe distancing enforcement officers are empowered to enter, inspect and search various premises, including residences, without a warrant, to check whether the Covid-19 regulations are being complied with.”
But the agency also added that officers will calibrate their approach for the premises, based on the circumstances of each case.
What happened at Mikhail’s house?
URA explained that there are six officers involved: Three were safe distancing enforcement officers from URA and the other three were police.
Upon arrival at Mikhail’s residence, the officers observed that the gate was wide open and that the lights in the house were turned on.
They also spotted two cars parked outside the residence, “and thus proceeded to ascertain whether there were any visitors in the unit, and if the numbers were “within permissible limits”.
The officers entered the car porch of his residence and knocked on the door of the house.
They identified themselves and explained the purpose of their visit after Mikhail’s wife opened the door.
URA said she agreed to allow the officers to enter, and escorted them around the house to facilitate their checks.
All three of URA’s safe distancing enforcement officers, including a female officer, followed Mikhail’s wife “in a single file” for the inspection, and were mostly in each other’s line of sight.
Towards the end of the inspection, Mikhail’s wife went to retrieve her identification card from the next room. She was followed by a safe distancing officer who took down the details.
A police officer and the female safe distancing enforcement officer joined them in the room shortly after, URA said.
According to Mikhail’s CCTV video, the two officers entered the room about one minute later.
The inspection lasted less than 10 minutes, according to URA, and there were no other persons found in the house.
URA said the safe distancing enforcement officers and police officers were “polite” towards Mikhail’s wife and “treated her with respect” throughout the inspection.
Mikhail’s response to URA’s statement
On Aug. 2, Mikhail first put up a post to apologise to the National Environment Agency (NEA) as he had tagged them and wrongly said they were involved in the incident in his earlier posts.
In a subsequent post on Aug. 2 night, Mikhail responded to this incident again.
Mikhail: Protocol not well followed, will lodge complaint against officers involved
He said that while he understood that the officers were doing their job and a warrant might not be needed, he did not agree that it is appropriate for the officers to enter the premise of his residence, referring to the car porch, without pressing the door bell even though the gate was open.
He also expressed discomfort over how a male officer followed his wife who was wearing her pyjamas into the room alone even though there was a female officer who ended up looking at his personal items.
Despite having spoken to URA, Mikhail still felt that the protocol was not well followed by officers involved in the inspection of his residence.
He said he felt “disappointed” that the incident was not documented on the police’s body camera as the police with the body camera did not enter the house.
He said in the video that the intent of his video is to raise awareness on this incident and hope the officers can be better trained for such situations.
He emphasised that he is “not going against the police force” and he still “believes in the police force because our country is very, very safe”.
Mikhail also said that he will lodge a complaint against the URA officers.
Here’s his response in full:
Follow and listen to our podcast here
Top image via Nick Mikhail’s Instagram
Singapore social distancing enforcement officers raid homes ‘without a warrant’
]
Singapore has been sending teams of enforcement officers into people’s homes — without warrants or warning — to check they are abiding by social-distancing rules that only allow two visitors, according to reports.
Actor Nick Mikhail highlighted the searches by sharing surveillance footage showing six officers — including three uniformed cops — in his home speaking to his wife, who was home alone at the time, he said.
“Came in without [a] warrant,” he captioned the clip, saying he had sent the footage to his lawyer.
Amid outrage, Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) confirmed to Channel News Asia that officers had visited the house over “repeated complaints” from neighbors that people in the area had been “having gatherings with more than the permitted number of visitors.”
“Safe-distancing enforcement officers are empowered to enter, inspect and search various premises, including residences, without a warrant, to check whether the COVID-19 regulations are being complied with,” the agency insisted.
Officers visited the house of actor Nick Mikhail over “repeated complaints” from neighbors. Instagram
Mikhail was upset that his wife was left alone with no female cop in sight. Instagram
Singapore is under “heightened alert” from the pandemic with social gatherings limited to two people, and only two visitors allowed in each house in one day, The Straits Times has said.
In an update, Mikhail confirmed that he had been told that “they can come, they can enter” — but was angry that a male officer had at one point been alone with his wife out of camera view.
“They should have a female officer to be with my wife all the time,” he complained.
Singapore is under “heightened alert” from the pandemic and is limiting social gatherings to two people. NurPhoto via Getty Images
The URA insisted, however, that the actor’s wife had let them in and “the safe-distancing enforcement officers and police officers were polite towards the female occupant and treated her with respect throughout the inspection.”