KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 — Bright yellow road signs — “Beware of snatch thief” — have sprung up all over Bangsar Baru, the upmarket neighbourhood here populated by well-heeled expatriates.
As many people know, Bangsar Baru is as popular with snatch thieves as it is with the wealthy.
It's not just road signs that have made an appearance on the streets. About 1,000 additional policemen have also been put on street patrol in Kuala Lumpur and its suburbs, and in Penang and Johor Baru.
The country has swung into an anti-crime drive after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak promised at the end of his first 100 days in office in July to reduce street crime by 20 per cent by the end of next year.
Crime is a perpetual worry of Malaysians, with repeated surveys showing public safety to be among their top concerns.
Many people now hire private security guards for their neighbourhoods, or choose to live in gated communities monitored by closed-circuit cameras and patrolled by guards.
Kuala Lumpur police chief Mohd Sabtu Osman told The Straits Times that more policemen are patrolling the city to deter wayside robberies.
“There will be more sent out for the Hari Raya holidays next week,” he said.
He said the focus was on 11 hot spots in the city, including Cheras, Sentul and the Bukit Bintang tourist zone.
The additional men came from the paramilitary wing of the police force, the Civil Defence corps and a grassroots voluntary organisation, Rela.
The beefed-up patrols began a month ago.
Mohd Sabtu said there had been a slight 2.5 per cent drop in street crime in these areas. Street crime comprises snatch theft and armed and unarmed wayside robberies.
“But it's still too early to say how effective it has been,” he said.
Street crime comprised 17 per cent of the overall crime index last year, with 72 per cent of such crimes occurring in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Johor.
Public safety was a major issue in the 2008 elections, when many urban Malaysians vented their anger at the ballot box.
As more than 60 per cent of Malaysians now live in towns, this will remain a significant issue for the government.
The last survey carried out by the independent Merdeka Centre in June showed that crime was the second-biggest concern for Malaysians, after the economy. — The Straits Times
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