Muhyiddin trying to convince cops that IPCMC isn't punishment

The hesitancy of the police to accept the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) is because they feel it will be a form of punishment, Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said.

Muhyiddin said the government is committed to setting up the commission but that further engagement was needed to be done with the men in blue.

"There are some things they are not clear about. For example, they think that with the IPCMC, police will become a target, as though there's a lot of police wrongdoing and that setting up the commission is meant to punish them.

"This is not true," Muhyiddin said in a joint interview with the media in Putrajaya yesterday.

Muhyiddin's statement came hours before outgoing inspector-general of police Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the police would voice their objections to the IPCMC to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“This is especially in regard to efforts to revoke the powers of the Police Force Commission (SPP), set up under Article 140 of the Federal Constitution, concerning issues on investigations and disciplinary actions to be taken over by the IPCMC,” Fuzi had said.

Muhyiddin said the government has asked National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (GIACC) director-general Abu Kassim Mohamed (photo, below) to engage with the police in a dialogue.

This, he said, would give the police an avenue to air their grouses while also having the IPCMC explained to them.

The IPCMC has long been promoted and argued for to address integrity issues with the police following many complaints, including cases of custodial deaths.

During former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s tenure, the formation of the IPCMC was rejected outright by then police chief Mohd Bakri Omar in 2006, with Bakri saying the powers of the SPP, as the disciplinary body, should be maintained.

On its part, the Najib Abdul Razak administration pledged to improve the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission, or EAIC, instead of establishing the IPCMC.

Harapan, under Item 20 of its election manifesto, promised to implement the IPCMC within its first term in government.

Following the formation of the new government, Fuzi said last August that the police accepted the possible formation of the IPCMC, as long as the rights of the force are protected.

His number two at the time, Noor Rashid Ibrahim, also heralded such a move, saying it would enhance the integrity and capabilities of the police.

However, Fuzi later said that a representative from the police should be a part of the commission.

He said it was an “important condition” for the Royal Malaysian Police, despite noting the fact that the IPCMC would be an independent monitoring body. - Mkini