Beat post cops are useless, say theft victims

Several residents of Petaling Jaya Selatan say the police officers manning beat posts do nothing to help snatch thief victims, even when the crime is happening in front of them.

PETALING JAYA: An electrician said today that his sister’s handbag was snatched by a pillion rider on a motorcycle right in front of a police beat post but the cops did nothing to help.

S Muniandy, 48, who lives Taman Manja, Petaling Jaya, said the officer in charge of the beat base in PJS 3/48 told him that the police could not take action.

“They even told me that I can only lodge a report at the Petaling Jaya district police station,” he told a press conference held by Petaling Jaya Selatan MP Hee Loy Sean.

Muniandy said there was no need for the police to set up beat posts in every street corner if the cops were not acting on crime happening right under their noses.

Ah Chun Sounderaju, 56, related an incident where he took several snatch theft victims to beat posts, only to be told to lodge reports at the PJ district police station.

Ah Chun said the government was just wasting money setting up beat posts.

“If the police at the beat posts are of no help then there is no point having them at all,” he added.

Lau King Hua, who runs a gaming outlet in Petaling Jaya Selatan, said her handbag was snatched near a beat post last year but nothing was done to nab the thieves.

“When I went to the district police station, the cops told me that such cases are common and advised me to be careful instead,” she said.

Lau then questioned the need to have beat posts on the streets if the police had no intention to combat crime.

Hee urged the police to put in more effort as crime was becoming rampant in his constituency.

“I have mentioned this in parliament but so far nothing has been done,” he said.

Last Thursday, snatch theft victim Goh Lee Kun, 27, suffered head injuries when she fell into a drain near the PJS 3/48 beat post, off Old Klang Road.

Goh succumbed to her injuries on Sept 17.