Both junior and senior police officers, except for detectives, wore brown khaki shorts and grey flannel shirts in the eight police divisions during the mid-60s. Those were the times of political, economic, cultural and social turbulence where society was plagued with the nefarious activities of gangsters, hooligans and hard-core criminals, drug trafficking, prostitution, public gaming, loan-sharking, extortion, triad conflicts and other serious crimes were rampant and uncontrolled. This is the story of James Leong who joined the Police Force in October 1965, barely two months after Singapore became an independent Republic. He was posted to the most notorious Kilo Division as a Probationary Inspector after completing his cadetship at the Police Training School. For 5 years he went through the mills of being a Routine Officer, Investigation Officer, Secret Society Inspector and Senior Detective Officer. From a rookie, James graduated to become a hardened crime-buster, relying solely on his intuition and tenacity to survive the harsh ‘dog-eat-dog’ environment. He also faced challenges in warding off the influence of rogue officers who tried to indoctrinate him to the dirty business of corruption. James managed to stay on the straight and narrow path, keeping his head above water in order to uphold the integrity and professionalism of the Police Force.
