Crime figures: Up, up and away ...
Published: Jan 31, 2007 6:55 PM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 6:21 PM
Will you be the next victim? Give the question due weight for if the latest police statistics are anything to go by, the crime situation in the country is becoming worse - not that this is a surprise to most Malaysians.
They record a startling 44.5 percent jump ever since Abdullah Ahmad Badawi assumed the premiership three years ago. The PM is also internal security minister.
Will you be the next victim? Give the question due weight for if the latest police statistics are anything to go by, the crime situation in the country is becoming worse - not that this is a surprise to most Malaysians.
On the aggregate, 6.7 women in the country are getting raped daily while 1.65 persons are murdered everyday, proclaim figures from the police force.
Added to these alarming numbers is the fact that the nation's crime index recorded an almost 45 percent increase in crime cases form 2003 till last year.
The worrying statistcis were brought to the fore today with Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang wanting to know whether Prime Minister and Internal Security Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was aware that reported crime cases have increased tremendously since he took the helm in October 2003.
Citing the police figures, Lim said the nation's crime index had jumped from 156,315 in 2003 to 225,836 in 2006, an increase of 44.5 percent.
"The worsening crime index, with an average of 6.7 women raped and 1.65 persons murdered daily last year compared with four women raped and 1.5 persons murdered daily in 2003 is another flop of the Abdullah premiership," said Lim in a statement.
Lim said the public had high hopes of better law enforcement when Abdullah announced the establishment of the Royal Police Commission in 2003.
"In fact, at the press conference after announcing the (formation of the commission) on Dec 29, 2003, Abdullah referred specifically to reducing crime rate from 167,173 cases in 2000 to 156,469 in 2001 and 149,042 in 2002," said Lim.
The worsening crime index, said Lim, appeared as though the royal commission's 125 proposals to create an efficient and world-class police force to check crime has been a 'total waste of time and public resource'.
Confusing figures
Lim questioned if Abdullah was willing to now admit the failures of the internal security ministry and the police and debate the draft bill for the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) in Parliament in March.
The IPCMC was among the 125 recommendations made by the royal commission in May, 2005. The police have explicitly objected to the establishment of the IPCMC though the government claims that the proposal for the body is still being mulled.
In a related development, Lim expressed 'surprise' that the total crime index figure as published by The New Straits Times today was vastly different from those published on the police official website.
The NST's edition today carried a table en titled 'Crime Index (January to December 2006)" which breaks down crime figures according to the 14 states.
The table, which does not state its source, says that there were 198,622 crime cases in 2006 compared to 171,604 in 2005. The police website figure is 225,836 for 2006.
"Is somebody in the police or government trying to play down the gravity of the worsening crime situation in the country which is going against Abdullah's reform pledge?" asked Lim.
On the aggregate, 6.7 women in the country are getting raped daily while 1.65 persons are murdered everyday, proclaim figures from the police force.
Added to these alarming numbers is the fact that the nation's crime index recorded an almost 45 percent increase in crime cases form 2003 till last year.
The worrying statistcis were brought to the fore today with Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang wanting to know whether Prime Minister and Internal Security Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was aware that reported crime cases have increased tremendously since he took the helm in October 2003. Citing the police figures, Lim said the nation's crime index had jumped from 156,315 in 2003 to 225,836 in 2006, an increase of 44.5 percent.
"The worsening crime index, with an average of 6.7 women raped and 1.65 persons murdered daily last year compared with four women raped and 1.5 persons murdered daily in 2003 is another flop of the Abdullah premiership," said Lim in a statement.
Lim said the public had high hopes of better law enforcement when Abdullah announced the establishment of the Royal Police Commission in 2003.
"In fact, at the press conference after announcing the (formation of the commission) on Dec 29, 2003, Abdullah referred specifically to reducing crime rate from 167,173 cases in 2000 to 156,469 in 2001 and 149,042 in 2002," said Lim.
The worsening crime index, said Lim, appeared as though the royal commission's 125 proposals to create an efficient and world-class police force to check crime has been a 'total waste of time and public resource'.
Confusing figures
Lim questioned if Abdullah was willing to now admit the failures of the internal security ministry and the police and debate the draft bill for the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) in Parliament in March.
The IPCMC was among the 125 recommendations made by the royal commission in May, 2005. The police have explicitly objected to the establishment of the IPCMC though the government claims that the proposal for the body is still being mulled.
In a related development, Lim expressed 'surprise' that the total crime index figure as published by The New Straits Times today was vastly different from those published on the police official website. The NST's edition today carried a table en titled 'Crime Index (January to December 2006)" which breaks down crime figures according to the 14 states.
The table, which does not state its source, says that there were 198,622 crime cases in 2006 compared to 171,604 in 2005. The police website figure is 225,836 for 2006.
"Is somebody in the police or government trying to play down the gravity of the worsening crime situation in the country which is going against Abdullah's reform pledge?" asked Lim.
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