Poor police force

Despite millions for the force, its officers have been coughing up funds from their own pockets for fuel, repairs bills, office equipment and other essentials

PETALING JAYA: While the government spends millions of ringgit constructing new police stations, the plight of normal police officers who work frantically on tight schedules and at the same time encounter constant risks, is plainly forgotten.

A random check by FMT at several police stations in the Klang Valley revealed that many officers are dealing with challenging situations such as patrolling in damaged police cars and ill-equipped stations.

In revealing his situation, a lance corporal who declined to be named, told FMT that he had to use his own motorcycle for his routine rounds and said that he foots the fuel bill from his own pockets due to inadequate patrol cars in his station.

Shockingly, the police officer further said that the patrol cars at the station where he works had been sent out for repairs to the district police workshop; and has since been under repair for months.

“The patrol car is ‘out of service’. It has been there (workshop) for months. I rather use my own Yamaha 125z to do my rounds but I have to pay the fuel from my own pocket and it costs me RM30 per day and I can’t make any claim,” the officer said.

When asked on why he refused to use the bike provided by the station he said that the motorbike consumed more fuel and the condition of the bike was not good.

“This scrambler is not user friendly. The fuel tank is smaller and it consumes more fuel. It is a hassle for us. The tyres meanwhile are not safe. Once I almost fell as I wason my routine checks and it is not that comfortable either,” said the officer.

Another officer from different police station said that he prefers to use his own money to repair the patrol car. He added that it would take three to four months for the patrol car to be repaired if he sends it to the district police workshop.

“There was once I had to pay RM400 to get the patrol car done. I rather repair the car myself than to send it to the workshop as it would take months for it to be fixed. Plus I have to undergo many processes, I have to submit reports to explain what is broken and so on, so it is a hassle as we need to work fast,” he said.

FMT also learnt that there are two types of cars in the police force. Those with sirens are government property, while those without sirens are handled by a private company known as Spanco.

The police source said that cars under Spanco can be repaired fast as there is no necessity to submit reports or approvals from higher ranking officers whereas for the government owned patrol cars, officers are obliged to make a written report before it can be repaired by the district police workshop.

“The ones with the police logo on the doors with no sirens are easier to manage. If the car is broken it can be fixed in a day as it is handled by a private company, but for the government property, there are certain procedures that you have to undergo, it takes some time or I’d rather say months,” the source said.

Lack of office equipments

Meanwhile, checks with investigation officers revealed that they faced similar problems when it comes to office chores. Not only that they have to visit crime scenes, these investigators also need to produce written reports each time there is an arrest or criminal case.

However, lack of proper office equipments has caused difficulties for most of the officers working in the police department as they are still using old or run down machines from day to day.

An investigation officer attached to a crime department said he had been using his eight-year-old laptop to write daily reports and has been applying for a new laptop for the past two years; but his request has yet to be met.

“This is my own laptop, you can see how old it is,” the inspector said showing his old Acer aptop with cartoon stickers on it. I have requested for a laptop but so far no news about it, but I can’t just wait as I have a job to complete, so I am still using my old laptop,” said the IO.

When asked about the budget given by the government to the police each year, the officer said he is not sure about the budget allocation and refused to talk more on that matter.

“I am just an inspector and all I know is that I need to do my job but as you can see, sometimes there are no A4 papers left here so I have to buy the A4 paper with my own money. It is not just me, this whole crime department is facing the same problem,” he added.

FMT was later told that investigative officers are on call 24/7 while lower ranking police personnel had to complete eight hours of daily rounds, patrolling the designated area in districts they are assigned to.

In the 2013 budget presented by the Prime Minister last year, it was mentioned that RM442 million would be allocated for the development of the police force including building new housing apartments for police officers, upgrading police stations and training centres.

In the budget speech, Najib had also set aside a special fund amounting to RM200 million for the police as he acknowledged the importance of having modern and latest investigation tools and evidence gathering devices.