Mark Twain, among others, said, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." This is a phrase defining the cogent clout of numbers, chiefly the use of statistics by politicians to shore up their weak points of view.
Government statistics may not be the true reflection of crime status when real figures on crime rates can sometimes send shivers down the people’s spine.
Using flawed statistics on crime rates is possibly UMNO-led government’s another attribute to face the next general election.
Don’t entirely blame the police
“We don’t entirely blame the police. We blame UMNO politicians who want to paint a healthy-looking image to the people that crime rates have plunged,” said a crime observer. “When politicians get into the equation, the police can be subjugated and no truth will prevail. This does not bode well for the ordinary citizens.” he added.
Malaysians in general do not feel safer in the streets, public places and even the privacy of their homes regardless of all the publicity about Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and National Key Result Areas including reducing crime.
The fear of crime has become more intense resulting in the burgeoning of gated and guarded communities in residential zones. The spate of brazen attacks by criminals on innocent people of late is frightening. Robbery is in vogue that most citizens have witnessed with their own eyes these days.
There appears to be a crime seismic jolt on the ground but the government is still in a denial mode and they start flaunting disbelieving statistics to confuse the people.
“What are crime statistics for when people still live in fear,” asked a university student in Shah Alam. “We feel insecure staying in our rented apartment and we feel unsafe to drive or walk in the street,” she added.
“It is an onus on the media to highlight crimes. This is the only way for us to be more vigilant,” said another university student.
Drug traffickers and pushers
Apparently, people seem not to be able to escape from thugs, snatch thieves, break-ins, armed robbers, rapists, kidnappers and murderers. Worst is when crimes are committed by organised syndicates that have the needed “connections” to do what they desire without being hounded by the authorities.
Mat rempit-style of robbers – many among them are drug addicts – continue to attack drivers and passers-by at traffic jams, in housing estates, outside workplaces and offices. Between May and June this year, the Petaling Jaya OCPD was reported to have said that here were 319 cases of smash-and-grab robbers. That's an average of at least five cases a day in the Klang Valley – one of the many egregious crimes zones in the country.
An estimated 350,000 people are addicted to drugs in Malaysia in 2012, according to a report by Reuters. Due to a high rate of relapse in the country, the number of drug addicts could rise to 500,000 in 2015. Back in 2006, there were 19,369 people who were officially classified by the government as drug addicts. Still, out of one reported case there can be five that go unreported.
Drug traffickers and pushers are the crime syndicates that have ravaged these people.
Police statistics show that 30 to 40 percent of drug addicts are involved in crimes such as robbery and rapes. As such, the government’s role in eradicating the drug menace is crucial in the fight against crime. Drug abuse still poses a major problem, particularly since those aged between 15 and 40 make up 80 percent of the drug addicts. But what has the sitting government done to alleviate this nuisance?
Car crime
Crime syndicates in some countries resort to buying off and paying off enforcement officers. Corrupt officers have crumbled these nations when criminal activities went spiral and out of control.
In the local setup, incidents of cars been stolen is rampant for a small country like Malaysia. Vehicles are stolen and driven with ease to the warehouse to be stripped. Many have been reported to be taken out of the country also with ease. An average of 150 vehicles are stolen a day in Malaysia, with 112,503 whisked away since 2010. A total of 57,462 vehicle thefts were reported in 2010 while the number was 55,041 as of September 2011.
According to a report, in most cases money earned from vehicle thefts – just like laundered money and money earned from the sprouting illegal gambling dens and prostitutions – can be used to aid crimes, and used to fund other criminal activities. Car crime is an organised crime – being one of the usual ways of obtaining the money needed to finance the whole criminal or even terrorist organisation. The sitting government unfortunately has not earnestly addressed this issue.
Failed to safeguard women and children
Beyond that, daring robbers on motor cycles carrying assault weapons smashing car windows to rob victims is too common a scene these days and they are mostly women who end up as victims. These robbers ramble through shopping malls, streets and isolated areas to look for their victims. It seems like it is no more secure for women to drive these days.
Many of these helpless women have even been injured, killed or raped.
Women have always been the main target of criminals both in the streets and domestic scenes. There were 3,409 and 3,626 cases on raping in 2008 and 2009. As many as 11,809 or 73 percent of all rape cases reported in Malaysia involved children aged 18 and below, and in most cases, however, the crime is committed by people known to the victims because they are family members such as fathers, stepfathers and uncles.
Crime against women and children has not abated. The statistics, from 2006 to 2010, 11,809 out of 16,159 rape victims were children, with 54 percent aged 16 and below, while another 19 percent were aged 16 to 18. The sitting government has again failed to safeguard women and children against such heinous crimes.
In the same period, there were 1,823 cases of sexual abuse and 60 percent of the cases were committed by fathers, stepfathers and close relatives. As many as 431 child abuse victims were aged one to seven.
In many cases, victims of crime live in fear. They would not make police report for fear that the criminals would return to harm them. And the number of unreported cases will not be represented in official statistics provided by the authorities.
No Malaysian should doubt Musa’s statement
Nationally, it was disclosed that in 2010 the number of crime cases recorded was at 177,520 and it declined to 157,891 in 2011.The crime rate reportedly dropped 10.1 per cent to 63,221 cases between January and May compared to 70,343 cases over the corresponding period the previous year.
But the former IGP (Inspector General of Police) Musa Hassan has suggested that the police review the crime statistics to regain public confidence and come up with the right numbers for public consumption.
“Is ‘tampering’ with figures a new phenomenon to propitiate the UMNO-led government just because the general election is just around the corner,” asked a senior former UMNO lawmaker.
After serving the country’s Royal Malaysian Police for 41 years and ending his career as the IGP no Malaysian should doubt Musa’s statement. The people are more convinced by his frank disclosure than what UMNO politicians are preaching about crime statistics.
Musa even suggested that the government employ an independent party to gauge the actual crime rate in the country. This proves more that the statistics given by the government on crime is indeed questionable. It’s not only the former IGP is saying that the crime rate is high. This view is also shared by all and sundry.
He was quoted of saying, “To me, even if statistics showed a drop in crime rate, if the public feels otherwise, something is wrong somewhere.” Musa had earlier been quoted as saying that the authorities were hiding facts from the public over the country’s crime rate and claimed public security has reached a “worrying stage”.
Naturally, the people will believe and have more confidence in the former top police officer of the country than an armchair politician within the sitting government. Hiding crime figures is a heinous act, as this will make the people complacent with feel-good statistics when the actual situation is just inauspicious.
Not doing enough to tackle crime
“Why play with numbers to please the sitting government?” asked a snatch victim in Wangsa Maju. She had her handbag snatched by two robbers before she could get into her car one Sunday morning. “The issue of crime is more than statistics. It’s more of perception and confidence. When figures are often manipulated to give a feel-good weight on the people, the public will lose confidence in the government,” she added.
“The people see, hear, experience or read about all sorts of crime happening in the country. It only takes a few horrid criminal cases to happen for the people to have the perception than the government is not doing enough to tackle crime,” said another snatched victim. “They will lose confidence in the authority,” she added.
Mere political rhetoric
Politicians are always on their rhetorical mood. Statistics for them is more used as the political dole to dupe the people into thinking that everything is hunky-dory with the sitting government. Urging the public not to worry as the police will always ensure that the people are safe from criminal threats is another political rhetoric.
Numbers can lie but not the people’s perception. Lowering figures to please the people is not making them living without fear. In fact they are living more fearful than ever. The government can claim that crime rate is down by 26 percent but fear still looms among the people.
“What the government should do is to give an honest breakdown of all crimes in the country on a daily basis so that people can see for themselves the real situation. Get them published in the media. Make this information public,” said a government officer.
Numbers do not correlate with one’s fear of crime. Numbers can be manipulated but fear and perception remain a reality. In some countries crime rate is manipulated for political reasons, as tampering with the crime rate is one way to win votes in elections.
Failed to combat criminal activities
The UMNO-led government has actually failed to combat criminal activities and also activities that indirectly attribute to crime such as corruption and abuse of power. The spike in crime is due to the bad economy of the lower income group of Malaysians.
The high costs of living and unemployment have further aggravated the situation. The Malaysian economy is not supporting this deprived group and they are finding it tough to survive. The spike in crime rate is also mainly due to millions of foreigners entering Malaysia illegally. All these are attributed to bad government policies.
UMNO-led government is not unravelling the right social equation. Crimes are committed because of unresolved social ills, family breakdowns and of course law enforcement measures that have not been tautened and trailed uncompromisingly.
The people are not criticising the police to demoralise them but the police of course could do more to combat crime if they are not tied down with UMNO’s political agenda.
For all these whys and wherefores, the country needs a better government that could watch over the direct and indirect causes of crime rates to ensure that they decelerate. Escalating crime rates in the country will certainly affect the country’s political equation. The people’s choice next in our two-party system will be a government that can ensure a crime-less society.
Malaysia Chronicle
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