Good men trampled over, says ex-cop

A community policing group calls for a revamp in PDRM’s promotion system.

PETALING JAYA: Many good men in the police force are denied their due recognition because there is a defect in the system of promotion to higher ranks, according to the community policing movement COPS.org.

COPS.org founder Kuan Chee Heng, a former policeman, called for a revamp of the promotion system, saying good men were being “trampled over”.

He did not specify the defect in the system, but said it “should not be about who you know, but what you know and how you perform.”

He said many policemen were in dire need of a good boost to lift their “dying spirits”.

“If you look at the corporate world, if people perform, they get the promotions due to them. In the police, we should have a very good system of promotion to reward good men.

“If you create more high ranking officers, that will create more fire in the force.”

He noted a reference to the issue in Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s Budget 2013 speech and said it was positive that the Public Services Department was studying the matter.

Yesterday, a news report quoted former Inspector-General of Police Hanif Omar as saying that quality manpower, good training, and strict supervision were more important than the number of policemen available to combat crime.

Kuan said he agreed with Hanif, but added that efforts to boost the quality of policing would not be enough to reduce crime if the public did not chip in.

“Without public participation, we will come back to the drawing board,” he said. “If everybody refuses to report crime, refuses to go to court to testify, all the best policing will be useless.”

Kuan also warned that giving out funds to volunteers and residents associations could turn out to be wasteful because the money might not be put to good use.

“The residents associations must not just hire foreigners with the money, but be fully involved and formulate something that actually helps,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation has congratulated the government for its decision to increase the number of security volunteers.

Its secretary for Selangor, Muhammad Fuad Talib, said: “The police do not have enough strength. So I think the government is resorting to whatever means to get more numbers. Now they are increasing volunteers because we would need to spend more if they get regulars.”