That's why we need the IPCMC

by Viktor Wong

Recently, we heard another guy who merely committed a small traffic offense was pulled over by some policemen and whacked like he is a hardcore criminal or somewhat a terrorist. Besides, he was also robbed off his cash and other belongings.

So what were those policemen up to during that time? Are they manning a roadblock or traffic, or what is their actual intention for being there during that hour? Enforcing the law, traffic or the other one called brutality? Have these policemen forgotten that they are the law enforcers and their duties are to protect the people and to ensure the public security is in order?

So, what are they doing in a group, or perhaps in a platoon surrounding an innocent looking man and whacked him from the scene, to the lock-up and till to the magistrate court compound? Does the inspector-general of police and the home minister sanction such moves to apprehend people without concrete reasons for doing so?

Come on, that guy is unarmed, he is just driving his wife's car who happened to be without a road tax just because his wife had forgotten to renew it. That's all! What so big deal on this until those policemen ending up criminalized him in such a way?

That is why we need the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) as recommended by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Police Force to be in placed as soon as possible.

But what did the BN federal government do then? They rubbished the recommendations by the Royal Commission and simply delayed the establishment of the IPCMC, instead suggesting a less effective kind of Enforcement Agencies Integrity Commission (EAIC) with no powers at all to deal with critical situations such as this kind.

Then the proposed EAIC Bill was tabled in parliament for scrutiny and debate, and the home ministry noted down all the necessary amendments needed to be done as suggested by our members of parliament.

After that, the federal government had decided against some of revisions of the EAIC Bill and decided to put the entire bill on hold till today, hoping that our people's memory would soon lapsed, but unfortunately with another of such case coming up, we supposed our memory would bring back what had happened in the past and recall all the brutalities and atrocities the police force had previously committed.

We want to know what is the federal government's stand right now, instead of washing its hands totally by letting the police top brass conducting its own investigation. Then, after that what will happen then? What are their future undertaking? Can they ever guarantee that this will never happen again? What is their assurance of doing so, if they were to guarantee it to the public?

Can the home minister Hishammuddin Hussein say something about this instead of just avoiding it? As a minister in charge of the police force, what is your best plan to enhance the integrity of the force and how would you be able to do it?

We supposed these questions has been put forward to you many times but you never want to give the public any concrete explanations or answers just because you are a senior Umno vice-president which upholds the supremacy of its party leaders. Isn't it so?

Right now, we can see that no one is policing the police force at all. We cannot accept the fact that the police itself will be an effectively policing their own force. This would be a clear conflict of interest and many loopholes had already exist since from the beginning.

That is why we need an independent entity like the IPCMC to come forward to take charge of such situation in order to give our people a proper avenue to raise their hands and voice their views on how to improve and enhance the integrity of the police force.

Remember, the salaries of the police officers and personnel are derived from our taxpayers money that were remitted annually from their various incomes. Therefore, our taxpayers also have their rights to give their view on the force and its performance. It is our people who are paying them, and not Umno, MCA, MIC or Barisan Nasional.

The police force is not accountable to Umno, MCA, MIC or Barisan Nasional. The entire force is accountable to the people and should also answerable to our representatives in the parliament.

As such, we would urge leaders of Umno particularly, to stop treating the police force like their own and hand it back to the people via IPCMC and the parliament.

Establish the IPCMC immediately!