The Singapore Prison Service (SPS) is now developing an automated toilet that simultaneously functions as a urine drug test. The trial is being conducted in order to establish a system that will allow supervisees to do urine testing unsupervised.
Supervisees can perform contactless urine tests using the Prison Automated Screening System (PASS) at the Singapore penitentiary in less than 10 minutes. The Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) and SPS worked together to develop this project.
Specimen Collection Made Easier
The Straits Times was the first to reveal that a four-cubicle system has been operational at the Selarang Community Supervision Centre since September. According to the same report, the trials are scheduled to end in February 2024.
PASS also comprises a cubicle where supervisors can register using biometrics before entering through a metal detector and stepping into the testing area. Here is the complete process as reported by The Straits Times.
As an added security feature, the testing cubicle will immediately lock itself once the system has validated the identity of the supervisee. Before the supervisee urinates into the collection bowl, the cubicle door closes and locks automatically.
The supervisee then sits in the cubicle for the results, which will be ready in around five minutes, as the urine is then processed and tested using robotics.
If the outcome is clean, the door unlocks, allowing the supervisee to go. However, an officer is summoned if additional investigation is necessary or suspicion of wrongdoing is present.
Streamlining Processes
When ex-offenders join the Singapore Prison Service's (SPS) community-based programs after their sentences, they are subject to a rigorous supervision system that may include urine testing, which can aid in the early identification of drug abuse.
CNA reports that ex-offenders are currently required to report to the Selarang Park Community Supervision Centre to take their tests during the supervision regime, which can last several months. A ten-minute process is unquestionably an improvement over the previous process.
According to Deputy Superintendent of Prisons Sameeyul Ameen Haji Sulaiman, the SPS conducts around 5,000 urine tests on supervisees in community-based programs each month. Meanwhile, Selarang Park processes between 200 and 300 tests per day.
"With Pass, an officer is activated only if there is an issue, and prison officers can now be freed to perform other higher-order tasks, such as identifying supervisees who require greater intervention," DSP Sameeyul explained.
Developments like PASS reduce the amount of staff needed to monitor testing by half. This cut in personnel requirements goes from one prison officer for every two supervisees taking a manual test to one officer for every four supervisees taking an automated test.
Like PASS, which uses automation to streamline the collection of urine samples, HTX's Next Generation Reporting Center (NGRC) follows the same approach. By doing this, the Central Narcotics Bureau's (CNB) officers' exposure to biohazards is lessened while also increasing the process' efficiency and security.
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