YOURSAY ‘IGP, you don't need new ideas. You just have to enforce discipline among your police force so that the rakyat can trust them.'

IGP: Give us ideas on how to reduce crime

your say Not Confused: None of this is rocket science or indeed new, Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar. It's just common sense.

Fundamentally, the crime rate here is related to the number of professional and well-trained police in the force, with dedicated senior officers who themselves have integrity and a deeply-held philosophy against corruption.

Secondly, more police presence on the street to combat crime - a visible police presence should help to curb the propensity to commit crime.

Even more important is enforcement - sensible, impartial enforcement of laws (and I don't mean the Internal Security Act or any other laws designed to oppress freedom of movement, speech or assembly).

The integrity of the police force should be the top priority. I have personal experience of more than one incident where police were called because of violent threats against innocent parties. The police simply did nothing other than to give their name cards to the offenders and persuade the complainants to drop their claims.

Nik V: Start with a revamp of the entire police force - from top to bottom. And that includes you, IGP.

The only way that can be done is if there is an independent parliamentary select committee of intellectuals and politicians elected by representatives of both sides of the political divide to select the next IGP.

Until we see a true IGP that stands for the police code of ethics and acting independently and not with impunity will we see any real improvement or respect for the PDRM (Royal Malaysian Police).

When the disease starts at the top, it is easy to see why so many cops at the bottom are corrupted. The body can only do what the head thinks.

Onyourtoes: In everything we do, to be effective, we must go for the fundamentals, not the peripheries.

We can ask the community to be more cooperative, we can provide higher wages for police officers, and better equipment and patrol cars. But ultimately it is how the police force carries out its task and responsibility that matters.

First, if the police force needs Pemandu chief Idris Jala to tell them that street crimes are too high, that means the police force is not serious in carrying out its job.

By the time Idris Jala knows about the situation, probably the whole country would have suffered long enough already. How is it that you (IGP Ismail Omar) have allowed the crime situation in the country to deteriorate to such a level? What have you guys been doing?

In the past, we used to have police officers walking our streets in the cities and small towns. May I know where they are now, despite the multiple increases in number of policemen and women? At most, we could only see them on motorbikes zooming by, not knowing they are in the hurry to go somewhere or they are actually patrolling.

Second, the issue of endemic corruption. You must understand how corruption works. If a police inspector is corrupted, he loses his moral and supervisory authority over a sergeant.

Hence, if a sergeant has not carried out his/her work, there is nothing much the inspector could do. So also if a sergeant is corrupted, he loses his supervisory authority over the ‘mata-mata'.

That is why you will soon find that the whole police force is weak and in disarray because there is no oversight any more. All the bosses have lost their moral and supervisory authority. They can't reprimand and take action against those under their charge because it will boomerang back to them.

This phenomenon is not just seen in the police force; it is everywhere - Customs, Immigration, Prison, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and Attorney-General's Chambers.

Human Being: For a start, ensure that your inspectors are not overloaded with too much paperwork and cases. Punish them if they refuse to investigate crimes that are reported to them.

Rubystar_4037: There are things that go on in public which everybody is aware of. Often times, we are more afraid of the police than the thugs - we do not know whether they will beat you up.

Of course, this is a general statement. I have seen a lot of police officers who went beyond their duties to help out a member of the rakyat.

IGP, you don't need new ideas. You just have to enforce discipline among your police force so that the rakyat can trust them.

It is common to see them setting-up road blocks for those who break the speed limit, but are they really enforcing the speed limit or are they stopping cars to ask for money?

One or two renegade police who asks for bribes is common in every country. But there are at least six to 10 police officers manning these road blocks.

Meor Kamil: Put more resources into real crime prevention and investigation, take real action on corruption, act without fear or favour. Even the policemen complain that the force assigned more resources for a political ‘ceramah' than to investigate a crime or to go on patrols.

Even crime evidence kept in a police station can go missing. How are the police reduce crime when they the ones who add to the increase of the crime number itself?

The way I see it, the police are not protecting the rakyat, they are more of a tool for the corrupt government - they come in the hundreds for a political ceramah, but when the time comes to investigate a crime, they assign one investigating officer to hundreds of cases, and when they catch one criminal, they say that this criminal is responsible for 20 crimes, and close all the 20 investigation papers as part of their KPI (key performance indicators).

Silas Jugdip: My wife thinks the IGP was being sarcastic - that since the public knew better they should be doing his job for him.

 

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