Cops to investigate ad hoc road block at junction near The Mines over graft suspicion

 

LET’S not be naïve – like it or not, crooked cops are everywhere, more so as a major festivity is round the corner.

And before anyone gets on their high horse, it takes two to tango.

In what looks like another run-of-the-mill police roadblock posted by Malay language news portal Malaysia Gazette (@MalaysiaGazette), a traffic policeman is seen stopping and receiving “something” from a driver of a halted luxury vehicle.

The shared clip was filmed from a vantage point above the road block with the men-in-uniform seemingly unaware that their antics were being caught on camera.

While it cannot be ascertained that anything illegal had taken place, two things are clear from the video.

Firstly, it was an unauthorised road block as it did not have the requisite traffic barricades or cones to indicate that a police ops was in progress.

Secondly, a traffic cop is seen taking something from the driver of the stopped vehicle which the former did NOT return, thus dismissing the notion that it is the driver’s license or identity card (IC).

So, what was it?

The video has already generated over 842.7K views at the time of writing with many netizens expressing scepticism that anything meaningful will come of the internal probe that the police claimed to have launched over this incident.

One netizen sarcastically applauded the police for collecting zakat fitrah (personal tithe) while manning a road block. Such resourcefulness, it was proclaimed.

The low public opinion of the police force is reflected in comments which suggested that its motto should be changed from “police and the community are inseparable” to “police and corruption are inseparable”.

Could it be that Hari Raya is just round the corner, hence the police officers were on the look-out for means to bump up their income?

Some commented that body cameras should be made mandatory for all police officers on duty.

Such a move will assuage public concerns over misconduct or corruption. Even security guards wear body cams these days, so why the delay with the police force, one wondered.

So long as the punishment for corruption remains light and easy, the problem will persist, countered one netizen.

At the end of the day, many pointed out that it still needs to two parties for an illegal transaction to work. Two wrongs don’t make a right.

More than a few pointed out that the Porshe driver/owner could surely afford to just to pay the summons if he/she is guilty of a motoring offence. After all, it can now be paid online and would NOT be illegal.

If one waited till the inevitable promo period, the amount of the fine and bribe would amount to the same.

As long as there are members of the public willing to engage in this dance, the problem will never go away. It will still be same old scenario of “You scratch my back, I scratch yours”.

[ Focus Malaysia