Political will needed to rid police of corruption, says ex-EAIC commissioner

Former EAIC commissioner Leong May Chan said she had come across officers facing the possibility of the cold shoulder or being put in cold storage if they reject corruption.

PETALING JAYA: 

The government needs political will to rid the police force of corruption, a former Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) commissioner said.

Leong May Chan, who was an EAIC commissioner from 2015 to 2020, said the theme she frequently heard about the police during her stint was 

brotherhood

, referring to a group of policemen who were in cahoots to commit misconduct.

There was one case … one police officer confessed that when he returned to his office, there was ‘something’ in his drawer and that his ‘teammates’ had taken their share,

 Leong said at the 

Special Room Exhibition: Chronology of Balamurugan’s Death Investigation

 event hosted by Suaram here today.

He said, ‘If I don’t take it, I will be given the cold shoulder or put in cold storage’.

She said not all policemen are corrupt, but the officers with a conscience would have to make a tough choice in that kind of environment.

Such an entrenched system can be changed but we need political will. How determined are the government and the inspector-general of police in revamping the whole thing?

 she said.

Recently, Utusan Malaysia quoted Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain as saying that 449 policemen had been arrested since 2020 for corruption.

He said some officers received bribes to protect the prostitution and gambling syndicates.

As of July 1, 2023, responsibility for complaints about the police was moved from EAIC to the independent police conduct commission (IPCC).

However, Leong said the IPCC has to be given more power to carry out its function effectively.

“One of the weaknesses is that it is not allowed to conduct a public hearing, unlike the EAIC.

Second, if IPCC wants to do a site visit, it has to give notice to the police,

 she said, adding that the EAIC was not obliged to do so and could show up at any station at any time. - FMT