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 ©The
Star (Used by permission)
by Bernard See
GEORGE TOWN: Politicians should not interfere while police personnel are
carrying out their duties, said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan.
“One politician recently sent 100 traffic summonses and told me to cancel them.
He claimed the offenders were his constituents and did not have money to settle
the summonses.
“There are also politicians who tell my OCPDs not to summon those riding their
motorcycles in the kampung areas without helmets. How can we do that?” he asked.
Musa, who was speaking at a national forum on crime and policing, said the
police would not be able to carry out their duties effectively if these
politicians continued to interfere.
Earlier, he admitted that the country’s crime rate was on the rise but was not
as bad as reported in the media and blogs.
“Last year’s crime rate per 100,000 population was only 772 cases compared to
Hong Kong (1,166), Japan (1,569) and Australia (4,270). The rising crime rate is
actually a global problem but it is still at a manageable level.
“I have already taken steps to counter the rise in crime rate like improving the
response time to a crime scene, building police stations in new housing estates
and installing CCTV cameras in crime-prone areas.”
On the small number of Chinese joining the police force, Musa said most wanted
to be officers and not constables.
“There is still a shortage of policemen despite recruiting over 7,000 people a
few months ago.
The force now has over 97,000 personnel and needs at least 40,000 more.
“I have asked for another 60,000 to be recruited over the next five years but
this still will not be enough as there are hundreds of retirements annually,” he
added.
Musa said he also wanted the national crime solving rate to be at least 40%.
“From today, the public can lodge reports at the various marine police bases
nationwide. I have also directed the marine police personnel to be involved in
crime prevention on land instead of just the high seas.
“The General Operations Force, whose duties used to be only in the jungles, now
have a wider scope of work. They are responsible for security in airports and
certain islands in the country,” he said.
On the police force being biased against the participants of illegal gatherings
in Kuala Lumpur, he said the police only acted because it was getting a bit out
of hand.
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