After weeks or months out of sight, the IPCMC once again dominates headlines. What opportunities does this latest crisis provide for the police, the public and the government?

One of the biggest barriers to positive progress is how the police clearly see themselves as being under attack. If sentiment from what was published online is representative, the force feels deeply hurt, singled out, and unfairly prosecuted.

Their response has been very defensive, replete with a lashing out towards the public and the government; this is understandably typical of anyone who feels suddenly cornered.

This undoubtedly indicates that efforts, if any, to sell the police on why such a commission truly benefits all parties involved have failed.

Everyone stands to gain if the police can take a step back and view this commission as an opportunity to shine; an opportunity to show that despite whatever misgivings the public may have, they are in fact bastions of integrity, justice and efficiency.

Nobody likes being scrutinised for supposedly not doing their job properly. Nonetheless, the fact remains that if the police have nothing to hide, then such a commission should be accepted and faced courageously with heads held high. Let the just never fear.

Additionally, it does not matter exactly how good or flawed any particular party believes the police force to be; for such an important body, should we not strive for constant improvement?

A few of the protests raised by the rank and file bear significant merit. The IPCMC, like any other governmental body, should be subject to judicial review. Their procedures should be neither more nor less stringent that standard judicial procedures. We hold the police to certain legal standards, and those same standards entitle them - like everyone else - to certain legal rights that must not be infringed upon.

Turning point

The rest of the protests and speculated fallout appear to hold less weight. Among the most inane is the clearly emotional response that should the IPCMC be implemented, the police will lose confidence and motivation, slack off, and perhaps even allow crime to rise.

This has generated some extremely angry responses from the public and civil society; on reflection however, it is hard not to see this at least somewhat in the context of merajuk. Increase disciplinary standards, and suddenly no one has the mood to work.

The just policeman needs no ulterior source of confidence and motivation, and is not discouraged by higher standards; and higher standards are in the end what the IPCMC is about.

In a country with imperfect but decent laws, a country with an imperfect but reasonable government, the just policeman need only love his or her country and its people to be confident and motivated.

There is also the political fallout that has been alluded to, should the IPCMC be implemented.

Taking a historical view a millennia long, one can see that a functioning police force is one of the very hallmarks of civilisation itself. The creation of a police force or its equivalent and the laws that govern it, mark the turning point in history when humans understood that public good must prevail and that might alone must not be allowed to make right.

Over centuries, the police have been entrusted with the near sacred task of defending the public's right to live in peace and in freedom from elements of violence and chaos. Without the regulation a police force affords, the word 'civilisation' loses much of its meaning.

Not a witch-hunt

Entrusted with such noble responsibility, a society's worst fear is that those they have trusted with the means to guard them will one day turn and seek to rule over them. It is for this reason that the loyalty of the police and military to civilian government is the next pivotal hallmark of proper civilisation. A society where coups still take place is not one that has truly learnt the lessons of a functioning society.

Upon close inspection, implicitly threatening to unseat a government in elections is in reality only a precious few steps away from a violent coup de etat. Both the government and the rakyat depend completely on the integrity of those in uniform to respect the sanctity of civilian government and uphold their loyalty to it.

The right to vote one's conscience is also sacred, but to even consider the en-masse interference in politics that was publicly alluded to this last week is a smear on any officer's honor.

Thankfully, the latest statements issued by Inspector-General of Police Mohd Bakri Omar reaffirms the force's loyalty to government and his official disassociation from the views presented by the three police associations.

While having publicly stated his opposition to the commission, he now appears to have reached some sort of understanding with the government, and has openly put his faith in the government's future decision as well as having committed to abiding by it.

Great things can be achieved for everyone involved - without exception - if this excellent sentiment is taken one step further and all efforts expanded to persuade the force that the IPCMC is not a witch-hunt but an opportunity for the police to show themselves to be sterling examples of integrity that many of us believe they are.

NATHANIEL TAN is a recent graduate in Peace and Conflict Studies; he believes in struggle, and in being positive.