s 17C Intentionally causing harassment, alarm, distress or humiliation to security officer
17C.—(1) An individual must not by any means —(a) use any threatening, abusive, insulting, sexual or indecent words or behaviour; or[Act 23 of 2025 wef 29/06/2026] (b) make any threatening, abusive, insulting, sexual or indecent communication,[Act 23 of 2025 wef 29/06/2026] towards a person (called in this section the target person) in relation to the execution of the target person’s duty as a security officer, with the intent to cause harassment, alarm, distress or humiliation to the target person and as a result causing the target person harassment, alarm, distress or humiliation. [Act 23 of 2025 wef 29/06/2026] (2) Subject to section 17D, an individual who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both. (3) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (2), it is a defence for the accused to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that —(a) the accused did not know and had no reason to believe that the words or behaviour used, or the communication made, would be heard, seen or otherwise perceived by the target person; or (b) the accused’s conduct was reasonable. (4) However, for the purposes of this section, a target person is not treated as executing a duty as a security officer or acting in the capacity of a security officer if the target person is, at the relevant time, also a public service worker as defined in section 6(5) of the Protection from Harassment Act 2014* and acting in the capacity of such a public service worker.[Act 29 of 2021 wef 01/05/2022] [*Updated to be consistent with the 2020 Revised Edition] [Act 23 of 2025 wef 29/06/2026] —(1) An individual must not by any means —(a) use any threatening, abusive, insulting, sexual or indecent words or behaviour; or[Act 23 of 2025 wef 29/06/2026] (b) make any threatening, abusive, insulting, sexual or indecent communication,[Act 23 of 2025 wef 29/06/2026] towards a person (called in this section the target person) in relation to the execution of the target person’s duty as a security officer, with the intent to cause harassment, alarm, distress or humiliation to the target person and as a result causing the target person harassment, alarm, distress or humiliation. [Act 23 of 2025 wef 29/06/2026] (2) Subject to section 17D, an individual who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both. (3) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (2), it is a defence for the accused to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that —(a) the accused did not know and had no reason to believe that the words or behaviour used, or the communication made, would be heard, seen or otherwise perceived by the target person; or (b) the accused’s conduct was reasonable. (4) However, for the purposes of this section, a target person is not treated as executing a duty as a security officer or acting in the capacity of a security officer if the target person is, at the relevant time, also a public service worker as defined in section 6(5) of the Protection from Harassment Act 2014* and acting in the capacity of such a public service worker.[Act 29 of 2021 wef 01/05/2022] [*Updated to be consistent with the 2020 Revised Edition]