GEORGE TOWN: Police should re-evaluate the need to carry out raids on private homes in the early hours, according to a criminologist.
Universiti Sains Malaysia’s P Sundramoorthy said that while the public must cooperate with the police, many are also aware of the scourge of bogus cops.
He said it was wrong for plainclothes policemen to appear on the doorstep of a home after midnight in search of a person sought over a white-collar crime.
“A midnight raid to arrest a person wanted for a commercial crime is not right. If it is murder, drug trafficking or other serious cases, it is understandable,” he said.
Sundramoorthy said the policemen involved in a raid on a private home at Logan Road here recently should be reprimanded.
On July 12, a woman took to Facebook Live after seeing a group of policemen outside her house with bolt cutters, demanding she open up or have the grill gate prised open.
The police team from Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, were looking for a man whose last registered address was at Logan Road. However, he was not there.
Sundramoorthy said it was natural for anyone to be suspicious and fearful at the sight of a raiding party who came knocking past midnight in casual wear, with one with a police vest.
The policemen, he said, should have held a stakeout earier and carried out intelligence work to determine if the suspect was at the condo in the first place.
“It appears the raiding party was not organised and did not do enough intelligence work. The cops should be reprimanded,” he told FMT.
Change of police raid SOPs needed
Sundramoorthy said police must change their procedures for such raids to improve the image of policing, at a time when uniforms and even police ID cards could be fake. He said everyone had a right to call their nearest police station to verify if a policeman was legit.
“Many are conscious of their rights in a democratic society. Was it justified for the raiding party to appear at someone’s doorstep at midnight in plainclothes and one in reflective vest which even the tontos use to carry out raids?
“This is an unwarranted fear. Police must understand that we have had bogus raids by unscrupulous people who have broken into their homes before,” he said.
However, another criminologist, Shamsher Singh Thind, said police had every right to search or arrest any person and, in some cases, to do so without a warrant.
“Police work around the clock. Imagine if you called the cops at 3am over an emergency, do you expect them to say we will come back in the day?” the lawyer and former law lecturer said.
Let them in, then phone the nearest police station
Shamsher said the public is free to lodge a report against police who may have acted against the law in making the search or arrest, so that a disciplinary proceedings can be held.
However, he said, those who encountered a police search could ask the policemen to show their identity cards and then ask for five minutes so that their identity can be verified by the nearest police station.
“The police are allowed to search without warrants, especially in security offences, and cases involving stolen property and other matters. They can come in to search your house.
“I recommend that you allow them to come in first or it could be construed as an obstruction, which is an offence under the Penal Code. You can make the phone call to the nearest station when they are in the house.
“Put the call on the speaker and let them hear the conversation. If they are legit cops, they will stay. If they are impostors, they will make a run for it,” he said.
Shamsher said the police should consider an online-based verification system for police ID cards, where the public can verify the personal details of cops through QR codes. The judiciary should also introduce an online system to check warrants.
“Ultimately, people must get to know their local police chiefs and their contact numbers. Trouble is, not all know the officer who is in charge of their nearest police station,” he said. - FMT
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