Amid Pakatan crackdown, IGP Khalid says police not neglecting duties

Khalid said the allocation of police resources to large gatherings was necessary to maintain order. — file picKUALA LUMPUR, May 26 — The police are not neglecting its crime-fighting duties to hunt down the opposition and its supporters, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar has said, denying accusations labelling the force as tools of Barisan Nasional (BN).

The newly-elected Inspector-General of Police (IGP), who has come under fire for the police’s heavy-handed tactics in clamping down on the opposition, insisted that the police have always acted on law-breakers without favouring anyone.

Khalid denied that PDRM is a pro-government agency, an allegation that has surfaced in light of the recent arrests of PR leaders under the Sedition Act 1948, namely PKR’s Chua Tian Chang and PAS’s Tamrin Ghafar. 

“PDRM has never memihak (favoured) and pro anyone. The police force is a body that only enforces laws that are issued and takes action on those trying to create tension.

“If we don’t act, our country may face a public peace crisis and place Malaysia as a country that is unsafe to reside in. No matter who and which individual breaks the rules, we will arrest,” he told Malay-language daily Utusan Malaysia in an interview published today.

When rebutting accusations that the police were neglecting crime prevention by focusing on PR rallies, Khalid said the diverting of police resources to the large gatherings was necessary to maintain order.

“Don’t think that when we organise rallies, there’s no need for police personnel to control. Oh...don’t need this (police) because it will be peaceful and the police can do other work, can go prevent crime.

“What if there’s another group that has opposing views and opinions attends the same gathering and a clash happens? If there’s a clash and there’s no referee (police), what will happen?” he asked.

Khalid explained the need for early notification of such large-scale gatherings to allow the police to plan ahead in terms of its use of manpower and resources.

“So, when there are big rallies, we need many personnel to prevent unwanted incidents and we use many resources for that purpose. That will cause the police to face problems in carrying out other police duties such as preventing crimes, controlling the traffic and so on.

“That’s why we ask rally organisers to inform us according to the existing rules so that we can arrange and plan in order that the rally goes on smoothly but the problem is many don’t want to follow,” he said.

Following more than two weeks of PR rallies to protest alleged electoral fraud, PKR’s Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad was recently charged under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 with failing to give the required 10-day notice to police. DAP’s

Thomas Su is expected to be charged in court for a similar offence tomorrow.

Representing the voice of the police, I admit that we truly feel the ‘loss’ of ISA. But we respect the government’s decision to abolish the law that among others was intended to fulfil the need for basic human rights. — Khalid Abu Bakar

Khalid also insisted that the police had not neglected crime fighting as it will always be a priority for the force.

“Who says we don’t give attention to crime? Who says that we had neglected our responsibility to fight crime in the country? We have never neglected the problem of crime in the country. It is always PDRM’s priority.

“If you look again at Section 3(3) of the Police Act, it has already been arranged correctly which among others it states that the police’s number one responsibility is to uphold the rule of law, secondly to take care of public peace and thirdly, to prevent crime.”

During the interview, Khalid noted that the younger generation were easily influenced to “participate in rallies intended to topple the government”.

He was later asked about the ability of the police force to handle such matters without the Internal Security Act 1960.

“Representing the voice of the police, I admit that we truly feel the ‘loss’ of ISA. But we respect the government’s decision to abolish the law that among others was intended to fulfil the need for basic human rights.

“However, I ask those who had at one time demanded the abolition of that Act to also respect the fundamental rights of others,” he said, saying that illegal rallies and street demonstrations are a breach of the rights of business-owners.

“If the government has satisfied them by abolishing the Act, they also need to obey it. In my opinion, the Peaceful Assembly Act and the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act that were introduced are also relevant to be applied,” he said, with the latter law introduced in 2012 to replace the ISA.