Will the Parliamentary Roundtable tomorrow support Najib’s KPI for crime prevention to reduce street crime by 20% in 2010 as it is late by four years

By Lim Kit Siang,

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has announced the reduction of the crime rate on the streets by 20 per cent in 2010 as one of the KPIs (key performance indicators) of the six National Key Results Areas (NKRA).

Will the Parliamentary Roundtable for a new IGP to create a safe Malaysia support Najib’s KPI for crime prevention to reduce street crime by 20% in 2010 as it is late by four years and should have covered all categories of crime as proposed by the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission in its report in May 2005?

When the Dzaiddin Royal Police Commission submitted its final report in May 2005, it said that Malaysia’s reputation as a safe country was “seriously dented” by the “dramatic increase” in the incidence of crime in the past few years and that “Malaysians in general, the business sector and foreign investors grew increasingly concerned with the situation”.

The Royal Commission warned that “if the trend continues, there would be major social and economic consequences for Malaysia”.

The Royal Police Commission was referring to the “dramatic increase” in the crime index from 121,176 cases in 1997 to 156,455 cases in 2004, which registered an increase of 29 per cent in eight years.

As a result, the Royal Police Commission proposed a sustained nation-wide drive against crime “until crime levels have reached a point considered no longer alarming”, with an immediate target of “a minimum 20 per cent decrease in crimes” in all categories of crime within the first 12 months after the Report.

Instead of achieving the Police Royal Commission’s target of reducing the intolerably high incidence of crime of 156,455 cases in 2004 by 20 per cent in 12 months (i.e. 125,164 cases), the reverse took place.

In the seven years from 1997 to 2004, crime index increased by 29%, but in the four years from 2004 to 2008 crime index increased by 35.5%.

From the latest statistics given in Parliament, crime index have galloped to break the 200,000 mark, with the incidence of crime shooting up to 209,582 in 2007 and 211,645 in 2008.

The endemic crime situation is no surprise except to the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein who have to learn of the severity and magnitude of the problem from public feedback that Malaysians have lost all confidence in the police force to carry out its most elementary duties, i.e. to keep the streets, public places and the privacy of homes safe for Malaysians, tourists and investors.

In the last four days, the Home Ministry website has sought feedback from the public as to whether they feel safe from crime in the country.

Right from the beginning, there had been a sustained 97% of those polled who feel unsafe and 95% who hold that their security is not assured, as illustrated from the following results which I had been tracking:

		Feel unsafe	Security not assured
23.7.09	12 midnight	96%(866)	95%(894)
24.7.09	7.40 am	97%(1,187)	95% (1,119)
	2.20 pm	97%(2,846)	95% (2,619)
25.7.09	12.30 pm	97%(4,905)	95% (4,495)
26.7.09	10 am	97% (6,058)	95% (5,549)
27.7.09	3.10 pm	97% (7,804)	95% (7,117)

Only 1% of Malaysians felt safe while 2% were uncertain.

As at 3.10 pm today, more than half of the respondents (i.e. 63% or 4,720) formed this opinion because they or their family members were victims of crime while 36% of the respondents (2743) were influenced by news about crime.

To a question whether the Government has done its best to ensure that the safety of the people was at the best level, 95% of 7,427 respondents replied in the negative. Only 3% felt that the government has taken the necessary measures to ensure public safety.

Najib’s KPI for street crime and the Home Ministry’s website poll with only 1% of Malaysians who felt safe while only 3% of Malaysians felt that the government has taken the necessary measures to ensure public safety are the most appropriate subjects for deliberation by tomorrow’s Parliamentary Roundtable for a new IGP to create a safe Malaysia.

Among the organizations and Malaysians who will attend the Parliamentary Roundtable in Parliament at 10 am tomorrow are: Ragunathan Kesavan, President, Bar Council; Dr. Lim Teck Ghee and Helen Ang from Centre for Policy Initiatives; representatives from SUARAM, Hakam, KLSCAH Youth and Datuk Seri Yuen Yuet Leng, retired CPO of Perak and Sarawak.

Those who wish to attend the Roundtable can still contact the organising secretariat (Shabrimi 016-4124735; Lim Swee Kuan 016-6266848; Boon Kia Meng 012-5180863).

Let the Parliamentary Roundtable tomorrow be a milestone in the journey to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service regarded as an international model for all polices forces in keeping crime low, eradicating corruption and protecting human rights in Malaysia.