By Terence Fernandez, The Sun
While they must support the government of the day, the police must realise that they are civil servants first and foremost and their responsibility is to the people – not politicians.
TODAY marks the 204th Police Day. Our men in blue are often taken for granted, feared and hated even for carrying out their duties – no thanks to the numerous negative reports concerning this enforcement agency.
Some are justified, but one is certain that many other stories should be taken with a pinch of salt. Granted, it is no easy feat to expect one to put life and limb on the line on a daily basis for a pay cheque that is nothing short of laughable.
Of course, over the years, there have been attempts to soften the image of the police, and this can be seen by the frequent meet-the-people sessions featuring top cops from the OCPD to even the Inspector-General of Police.
The increased street presence of uniformed personnel also lends an air of security and judging by the statistics made available to us, there has been a significant drop in street crimes – the main focus of the Government Transformation Programme’s Crime National Key Results Area (NKRA).
Street crimes dipped from 38,030 in 2009 to 24,837 last year – a 35% drop. Last year, there were 177,520 reported crime cases – a 15% drop in cases compared with 209,817 in 2009.
Of course detractors and sceptics will say this is merely because fewer people are lodging reports due to the horror stories related by other victims on the inconvenience and time it takes to lodge a simple report where one ends up repeating his or her woes several times to different officers. However, as Petaling Jaya OCPD ACP Arjunaidi Mohamed explained to me sometime ago, while not all reported crimes are solved, a police report helps police focus on high crime areas.
If an area reports a spike in crime then police will increase patrols in these areas, he said. Thus, this is the logic behind the NKRA focus of enhancing police presence in 50 crime hotspots – based on reports lodged. Of course the NKRA also focuses on training and increasing the number of police officers by another 150,000.
But it is not just about numbers, as what we need are quality personnel – people who are not only sharp, reactive and efficient, but who are also empathic and sympathetic.
At the same time, looking at the intense politicking in the country, it would seem that the already stretched police force is being distracted from its main focus of providing safety and security to the public.
They are often used to monitor ceramahs, taking statements from bloggers, journalists and politicians and deployed in droves to by-elections and public gatherings.
In this instance, the advice of former Special Branch No 2 Datuk Seri Yuen Yuet Leng which appears on Page 14 is timely – that the police are not political tools and should not be subservient to politicians.
While they must support the government of the day, the police must realise that they are civil servants first and foremost and their responsibility is to the people – not politicians.
In the same breath, the politicians must also be mature enough to concede that the police belong to the people and hence members of the force must be treated well, compensated fairly, regarded with respect and protected from all forms of influence and abuse, which would compromise the discharging of their duties and their sacred oath to protect and to serve.
While they must support the government of the day, the police must realise that they are civil servants first and foremost and their responsibility is to the people – not politicians.
TODAY marks the 204th Police Day. Our men in blue are often taken for granted, feared and hated even for carrying out their duties – no thanks to the numerous negative reports concerning this enforcement agency.
Some are justified, but one is certain that many other stories should be taken with a pinch of salt. Granted, it is no easy feat to expect one to put life and limb on the line on a daily basis for a pay cheque that is nothing short of laughable.
Of course, over the years, there have been attempts to soften the image of the police, and this can be seen by the frequent meet-the-people sessions featuring top cops from the OCPD to even the Inspector-General of Police.
The increased street presence of uniformed personnel also lends an air of security and judging by the statistics made available to us, there has been a significant drop in street crimes – the main focus of the Government Transformation Programme’s Crime National Key Results Area (NKRA).
Street crimes dipped from 38,030 in 2009 to 24,837 last year – a 35% drop. Last year, there were 177,520 reported crime cases – a 15% drop in cases compared with 209,817 in 2009.
Of course detractors and sceptics will say this is merely because fewer people are lodging reports due to the horror stories related by other victims on the inconvenience and time it takes to lodge a simple report where one ends up repeating his or her woes several times to different officers. However, as Petaling Jaya OCPD ACP Arjunaidi Mohamed explained to me sometime ago, while not all reported crimes are solved, a police report helps police focus on high crime areas.
If an area reports a spike in crime then police will increase patrols in these areas, he said. Thus, this is the logic behind the NKRA focus of enhancing police presence in 50 crime hotspots – based on reports lodged. Of course the NKRA also focuses on training and increasing the number of police officers by another 150,000.
But it is not just about numbers, as what we need are quality personnel – people who are not only sharp, reactive and efficient, but who are also empathic and sympathetic.
At the same time, looking at the intense politicking in the country, it would seem that the already stretched police force is being distracted from its main focus of providing safety and security to the public.
They are often used to monitor ceramahs, taking statements from bloggers, journalists and politicians and deployed in droves to by-elections and public gatherings.
In this instance, the advice of former Special Branch No 2 Datuk Seri Yuen Yuet Leng which appears on Page 14 is timely – that the police are not political tools and should not be subservient to politicians.
While they must support the government of the day, the police must realise that they are civil servants first and foremost and their responsibility is to the people – not politicians.
In the same breath, the politicians must also be mature enough to concede that the police belong to the people and hence members of the force must be treated well, compensated fairly, regarded with respect and protected from all forms of influence and abuse, which would compromise the discharging of their duties and their sacred oath to protect and to serve.
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