Inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar has ruled out the possibility of journalists being present during the confrontation with suspected armed criminals to which PKR vice-president N Surendran has been invited to observe.

Responding to a question on this, the police chief replied: "Not for now."

He stressed that the invitation to Surendran was not to seek publicity but to expose the true facts and reality of such encounters between the police and armed criminals.

NONEKhalid was commenting on a Twitter posting by Lawyers for Liberty asking if journalists could be present during the ‘PDRM/Surendran vs Suspected Criminals great shootout?'

Failing which, LFL asked, "What is the point?"

Meanwhile, Khalid reiterated that he had never challenged Surendran to participate in such police operations but merely extended an "invitation" to the lawmaker, which the latter accepted.

"This invitation is not meant for him to partake in the ops (operation) but as a mere observer for him to get the 'feel' of what we enforcement officers feel in life-threatening situations.

"Even then the CPC (Criminal Procedure Code) allows us to seek assistance from members of the public and I believe I have not broken any law in the invitation.

"However, there are still risks that Surendran has to face and we still need him to sign the indemnity documents so as to absolve us of any prosecution and blame later on," he told Malaysiakini.

Don't jump the gun

Furthermore, Khalid said that he wouldn't know whether the next confrontation with armed criminals would culminate in a shootout.

"That was why I invited Surendran to our operation involving 'armed criminals'. And never did I say anything about inviting him to a 'shootout'," he added.

NONEKhalid also advised detractors not to jump the gun in thinking that "all confrontations ended in a bloodbath."

"This is our last resort, when fired upon, we return fire. And given that our men are trained in the use of firearms and the skills of armed confrontations, the death toll is always higher among criminals. This is the same all over the world," he added.
Khalid's invitation to Surendran (left), a staunch critic of the police force with regard to the use of excessive force, came amid the raging controversy surrounding Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's "shoot first" remark.
The minister's remark suggested that the police carried out summary executions of suspected criminals.

Zahid had since denied calling for extrajudicial killings, while Khalid also refuted allegations of the police being trigger-happy.