Police and the law

FEB 2 — In the United Kingdom yesterday, the media has reported that a senior London police detective was sentenced to 15 months in prison for trying to sell information about a phone-hacking probe in 2010 to News Corp’s (NWSA) News of the World tabloid, which was at the centre of the investigation.

April Casburn, 53, is the first person sentenced since police began probing bribery at the now-defunct News of the World and News Corp’s other UK tabloid, the Sun.

The counter-terrorism detective chief inspector with the Metropolitan Police Service was among nearly 60 people snared in a bribery probe called Operation Elveden.

Over in Malaysia, we hear reports of policemen committing offences in the past few years and even as late as last week but the law is slow and one wonders who polices the police.

There was the proposal for the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) but that was diluted into the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) which received 288 complaints until September 30, 2012.

Of that, 194 were directed against the police. But there are no reports of what has happened to the complaints.

Just as in the death of security guard C. Sugumaran, it had to take the federal Cabinet to ask for a forensic report done before deciding if an inquest or a murder investigation is carried out.

It begs the question, why does it need the Cabinet or the prime minister to decide on such a matter. Where is the rest of the chain of command, from the home minister down to the OCPD of the police district concerned, to figure out what to do.

People, be it in the United Kingdom or Malaysia, are increasingly wondering what is being done to police the police. And be seen to police the police.

No doubt, rogue policemen are rare but they exist. And when people start dying in lock-ups or in handcuffs on the street, wringing our hands and lamenting that nothing can be done is not an option.

As Election 2013 looms, the police must know that either the Barisan Nasional (BN) or Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will have to institute a more rigorous system of checks and balances.

The police’s job is to enforce peace and security. But not the point of doing something illegal. Sugumaran’s death is just another wake-up call in a long line of wake-up calls for Malaysia to keep its police force straight and within the law.

We have hit the snooze button too many times on this. The IPCMC didn’t take off and instead we have an effete EAIC.

The politicians who want to be elected to power in the next general election must understand what the people want and need. We want law and order. And that includes the policemen following the law and not taking it into their own hands.