How is this to reassure the public?
On Jan 13, the Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain claimed only a handful of police officers were engaged in criminal activities.
Such was his confidence, that he told the public to trust the PDRM to conduct transparent investigations into criminal cases involving its officers.
He said not even two percent of the 137,000 officers were involved in disciplinary offences or criminal involvement. He praised the vigilant supervision by superior officers.
Really, Mr IGP?
Crimes involving the police are probably underreported. If strict enforcement was undertaken and other victims were encouraged to come forward, the IGP may be in for a rude shock.
Some men and women are transformed into mini monsters once they don the blue police uniform.
The PDRM’s duty is to protect the public, but when they break the law, they may abuse their powers by exerting their authority on the public.
By using coercive and controlling behaviour, they will threaten the victims from lodging a report. The officers then become ‘untouchable’.
They may also mock the victim by saying it is pointless to lodge a report because they are the law, and no one would believe them when they say a serving cop had committed a crime.
The numbers may be small, but when the errant officers commit crimes, they may assault their victims, intimidate them into silence, or use their position and power to assert their authority or to force compliance.
Ten days after the IGP’s speech, Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan told reporters that 311 policemen out of the 15,000-strong personnel in the Selangor police force were probed for disciplinary and criminal cases.
This number represents slightly over two percent of the Selangor PDRM. After the earlier remarks of the IGP about a mere handful of officers being involved in crime, this figure is hardly reassuring.
‘Cop crimes’ hit headlines
Trawling the newspaper reports about police officers engaging in criminal activities presents a disturbing picture.
In early January, police officer Muhammad Fazrul Razzi allegedly raped an underage girl twice and performed sexual intercourse ‘against the order of nature’, before he and his partner, Adib Aikal Shahrul Nizam, extorted RM500 from the victim’s boyfriend. They allegedly threatened to release a video of the couple kissing and they used the footage to blackmail him.
Why was Fazrul released on bail? Did the Sessions court judge honestly think Fazrul would obey the order not to speak to the victim(s), especially as his job, his reputation as a family man and husband, and more importantly his freedom, are on the line?
On Jan 10, a police inspector was among seven people arrested for the abduction of a Bangladeshi man.
In December, a senior police officer was arrested and charged with murdering a school student in Perak.
Three other police officers were charged in court after allegedly stealing RM85,000 during a raid on migrants in Kuala Lumpur.
A friend once witnessed two police officers on their kapchai descending on a construction workers’ accommodation quarters and summoned the site supervisor to cough up RM50 for each worker onsite, thus netting a few thousand ringgit.
Non-payment could mean a visit later in the day with reports about fictitious workplace violations. The site supervisor said it was less stressful to pay the dirty cops then, rather than halt construction.
On Dec 12, 2023, a 34-year-old woman died after spending four days in a police cell in Langkawi. The nation knows there have been too many deaths in police custody.
Cops probing cops
It is laughable that the report said, “Bukit Aman’s Integrity and Compliance Department was set up in 2014 and has been regularly publicising incidents of deaths in custody.”
It’s all very commendable reporting these deaths, but why are they happening with alarming regularity? Was a thorough investigation done? Or are the police force protecting their own? What corrective measures were put in place? Who was found responsible for these deaths? Were they punished?
In the past, we were shocked when a post mortem would reveal that deaths in police custody were recorded as “sudden deaths”. The victims’ hearts stopped suddenly, or they suffered a severe asthma attack. The victims’ families knew their loved ones were healthy at the time of their arrest.
In 2009, A Kugan’s family was told he died suddenly but a second post-mortem revealed he was tortured. In 2013, N Dhamendran, also beaten, had his ears stapled.
In the past, the police would attempt to cover up the existence of rogue police officers by claiming the CCTV was malfunctioning. At times, the inquest into these deaths would be subject to many delays.
Is there a culture of fear within the police force which stops law-abiding officers from blowing the whistle on crimes within the PDRM?
For years, the rakyat has demanded the setting up of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) but the government dragged its heels.
After his retirement, former IGP Musa Hassan claimed he supported the formation of the IPCMC but blamed his political masters for interfering.
Why speak out only after leaving office? Is the police deep state at work again?
Both the home minister and the IGP can restore public confidence and trust in the police force by setting up the IPCMC; but will they? - Mkini
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army, and the president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO). Blog, Twitter.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.