©New
Straits Times (Used by permission)
by Alang Bendahara
The new Deputy Inspector–General of Police Datuk Ismail Omar and the man he
succeeds, Tan Sri Mohd Najib Abdul Aziz, took pains to dismiss rumours of a
split in the police force in interviews with Alang Bendahara.
Q & A with the newly–appointed Deputy Inspector–General of Police Datuk
Ismail Omar.
Q: Unity among members of the police force was mentioned twice in your first
speech as the new deputy IGP at Bukit Aman on Monday. Why did you stress on
this?
A: I mentioned it because we have to enhance integration of the various
departments. The police's strength lies in unity. We can only grow stronger by
being united.
Q: There was talk of a split in the force, especially after Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Datuk Ramli Yusuff was charged by the Anti–Corruption Agency. Is it true?
A: Whatever happened to Ramli is his own doing. Such
things can happen to any member of the force. There is a Malay proverb which
says a husband and wife can always argue, but that does not mean they will split
up.
We are, however, taking the necessary steps to improve the esprit de corps. I
have been instructed by the IGP to visit state police contingents and district
police headquarters.
Q: Your comments on the police's low crime solving rate and its weak
intelligence gathering?
A: That is not entirely true. There is a rise in our solving rate, but
admittedly, there are also several high profile cases which are not solved yet.
It is not fair for the media to highlight cases which were lost due to poor
investigation when there are a lot of cases which were won, but the police were
not given credit.
Q: Public confidence in the force is not exactly high, seeing that there are
high–profile cases which are still unsolved.
A: The public's expectation is very high now compared to previous years.
They rely on us and we must be able to satisfy their needs. We are still
improving. We have to cater to the public's needs and maintain harmony.
Q: What are the immediate steps that need to be taken to increase public
confidence?
A: We have to improve our delivery system, such as being faster in our
response to emergency calls and being quicker in solving crimes. Every minor
detail, including ensuring smoother traffic flow is important in regaining
public confidence. We must also address the issue of integrity. Our officers are
constantly being sent for seminars organised by the Malaysian Insitute of
Integrity.
Q & A with former Deputy Inspector–General of Police Tan Sri Mohd Najib Abdul
Aziz.
Q: Is there a unity problem in the force as you have mentioned it in your
speech during the handing over of your duty to Ismail on Monday?
A: It is just a normal advice that we always stress in the force, for us all
to work as a team. After all, the police are a team of policemen and not
individuals, so obviously we must be united. Also two heads working in unison is
better than one.
Q: Can you describe the phase which the police force is now experiencing?
A: The force is now in the era of improving itself –– especially after the
report by the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the
Royal Malaysia Police. The force needs changes, such as in improving its
delivery service, a better approach to combating crime and other current
problems. It is a more challenging time for the force compared to the
yesteryears.
Q: Why is it more challenging?
A: Nowadays, information travels faster and there are a lot of mediums out
there such as the Internet. The public is also more educated than before. The
force needs to keep up with the trends. We need to work as fast as the spread of
the information itself. We need to keep pace with the latest developments.
Q: What are the problems faced by the force during your tenure as the deputy
IGP?
A: The force is being restricted by limited funding. The allocation given by
the government does not come fast enough. I have faced this problem for a long
time, so much so that I would say the force is being neglected. This is the
reality. Development of the force is not in line with the development of the
country.
Q: So what must be done?
A: In order to be able to hunt we have to be able to run fast, thus there is
a need to update all police infrastructure and logistics.
Q: Is manpower also part of the problem faced by the police?
A: It is. As even though the government has given approval for additional
men and women, we are facing problems in training them as we cannot do it fast
enough. The government must be sensitive to the appointment of new policemen. As
it is, our request was only approved after two or three years. It must be
approved faster as we are barely coping with the work load.
Q: Is it affecting the professionalism of the men?
A: Yes it is. The level of professionalism is affected due to lack of
training. This is because currently our training capacity for non–officers is
limited. We can only give them basic training needed to become policemen but we
cannot give them other training needed for them to better execute their duties.
We need to be able to at least send them for one course every year but, as it is
now, we have policemen serving for 10 years without being sent for retraining.
Q: Is the police force now moving on the right track for improvement?
A: Yes, it is especially so with the Five–Year Strategic Plan. We now know
our target as there has never been one before. This is the first time we have
one since I joined the force 38 years ago. Now we have scheduled an upgrade but
we still need fast approval of allocations.