September 14, 2012
What is wrong of Law Enforcement in Malaysia?
by R. Nadeswaran(09-11-12) @www.thesundaily.com
Police Cover-Up
MORE than 30 years ago, I interviewed the then Inspector General of Police Tun Hanif Omar in his office. It was a candid, no-holds barred tete-a-tete and among other issues, we talked about why the public “fear” the police.
“Can you remember your younger days?” he asked. Not much but several incidents are ingrained in the memory. You know Nades, Hanif said a matter of factly, when children refused to have their food, the mothers usually threatened them by saying, “Eat quickly or the Policeman will come and catch you.” And the child finishes his or her meal without further fuss.
Hanif then reasoned that this “fear” is inculcated in people’s minds from a young age and hence the negative perceptions of the Police. It was an eye-opener having gone through the same routine in my younger days.
These days, parents may no longer use the same ruse and instead use words like “you can’t play games on the computer if you don’t finish your food”. However, the perception of the Police being high-handed and using double-standards in law enforcement is getting more credibility than ever before.
Enacted before their very own eyes, the public perceives the Police Force as a “bully”, taking advantage of the vulnerability of young persons while adults who had carried out similar acts are treated with kid gloves.
This is not an indictment of the entire force but some isolated incidents done in the glare of camera lights adds further to the poor image of the much-maligned law enforcers.
In September 2008, a group of men smashed a photo frame bearing the photograph of former Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon and then tore up his photograph in front of a packed media group. This was preceded by a falling out between Koh and UMNO politician Ismail Ahmad. Nothing happened. The Police watched with arms folded.
On Merdeka Eve, a group of people had trampled on the photograph of the Prime Minister and his wife. If stepping on photographs is an offence, it is understandable. That’s the reason why no one was charged in the Penang incident. And yet, the police deemed it fit to use the Sedition Act as a basis for their investigations. And what followed is what can only be described as the police shooting themselves in their own feet.
The photograph of a 19-year-old in handcuffs on the front page of this newspaper last week drew yet again, unnecessary attention on the Police Force. For the umpteenth time, the image of the force took another knock. Was it necessary to handcuff someone who voluntarily came to assist the police in their investigations? And she had yet to be charged.
On Sunday, Bernama quoted the Home Minister as saying that the government may review the standard operating procedure (SOP) concerning the arrest of persons surrendering to the Police.
Is this a Joker or a Joke?
Is there an SOP? The methodology for arrests is prescribed in the Criminal Procedure Code. Surely legislation supersedes any code or procedure.
Section 15 of the Criminal Procedure Code on making arrests states:
(1) In making an arrest the Police officer or other person making the same shall actually touch or confine the body of the person to be arrested unless there is a submission to the custody by word or action.
(2) If such person forcibly resists the endeavour to arrest him or attempts to evade the arrest, such officer or other person may use all means necessary to effect the arrest.
So, there’s no compulsion and neither is it mandatory to use handcuffs when arresting someone. The exception being that the arresting officer is of the view that he or she is likely to escape. Here, the girl voluntarily went to the Police station and was treated like a convicted criminal. No one will complain if dangerous criminals or convicted felons are shackled, but when double standards are applied, the furore will be uncontrollable.
You don’t have to go to a Police station or court house to see such wanton discriminatory actions. Just look at the photographs in the newspapers and if there is a prefix to the name of the accused person, he may also be driven to the court house in his private chauffeur-driven SUV while the ordinary guy arrives in a Black Maria or a Police van.
Reviewing of SOPs are excuses or even a delay tactic to cover up the sloppy police work. Yap, in our days, mothers used the police as their disciplinary wand and its works.
The author is polite and kind to refer to only some bad apples in the force but my experiences differed. I ready my own statement in both language, English and Bahasa every time I make a report. One time I even have my thumb drive prepared in case they wish to cut and pace. Once, they pass the keyboard and encouraged me to type. Poor proficiency of English maybe understandable but Bahasa too.
I have witness argument between the person making the report and the recording officer over the proper Bahasa words to use. I did the legwork gathering CCTV evidences for them when I lost my credit card and the alleged thief was never prosecuted because he belongs to a certain privilege race where the OIC deemed difficult and complicate to prosecute whenever cases involved the privilege race.
And lastly, what is the SOP for investigating cases? Should there be a report made before investigation can proceed or it is the sole duty for them to attend based on the seriousness of the case without waiting for any report filled? Our boys in blue prefers the lateral. They are not preventing crimes. Only act when there is a crime and now worst still who is the alleged individual? Supporters of oppositions or BN?
My simple comment to Nades interview with Tun Forking Hanif,he was the Biggest Asshole that destroyed the Polis Force as we come to know it,he’s ass licking,his corruption n his abuse of Power started it all,ask me for I was in the Force once,His tenure as IGP is equivalent to Mahathir’s time as PM ( that’s Puki Mak for you),Hanif would bend over backwards and make the Chinese acrobats cringed in their sleep.May he enjoyed all that money Genting pays him and it’s always Halal to people like him n Mahathir,well in the scheme of things,San Miguel’s dividend to his son’s n families are Halal too.So much for a Muslim country.
If only the IGP don’t think or behave like a political appointee and run the police force like a true blue policeman, all the current problems will be solved. Of course, that would mean most of the government will be operating not in parliament house but from Kajang prison.
The flip flop laws of Malaysia ! What kind of bozos there were ?
What wrong with our police force.Nothing wrong except they take side in politic.Police suppose to be neutral and take action on any offender irrespetive of their political believe.
Police have to be firm against criminal.I remenber during Rahim Noor as IGP.I asked him why his police force are trigger happy and they kill all the robbers,kidnapper .He said the criminal have no place in our society.If you arrested them,the court will release them.I am totally agree with him.
Other disturbing factor in police force,some of the police personnel are also involve with the underworld figure especially in illegal gambling,vice fcukshop and car hijacking.
Mr Bean, are you willing to pay for this kind of price of Free Speech being allowed under the US Constitution?
Hillary Clinton is right when she said, “the Constitution did not allow the United States to “prevent these kinds of reprehensible videos from ever seeing the light of day,” and could not if it tried, given modern technology. ….but there should be no debate about the simple proposition that violence in response to speech is not
acceptable…”
But who takes notice of such reasoning by the US State Secretary when irresponsible free speech is allowed to touch a very raw nerve and highly charged religious sentiment such as what this video clip which was broadcast on Youtube did.
What do you do when you know that abuse of free speech WILL lead to violence and death of the innocents…. and these are Americans living in countries that don’t give a damn to the US Constitution on free speech.
There is a lesson to be learnt here.. while US Constitution guarantees free speech, but it does not protect Americans living overseas. The only option is that Americans should not live overseas at all because some nut-heads are going to abuse free speech which will endanger the lives of OTHERS.
When Syed Hamid was the Menteri Dalam Negeri,he shifted his office in Bukit Aman.Many senior police office against it.When Hanif was the IGP he didnt give any face to the politican including PM.He launch operation Lalang despite Mahathir against it and arrest all the trouble maker including Ahmad Sebi,the close friend of Daim and Anwar.
The credibilty and trust of PDRM have gone down to the dogs.
Frank,
You did right to quote the Secretary of State that the U.S. Constitution prevents the suppression of free speech after pointing out that it is not the U.S. government that did that video in your first para and then you went on to contradict yourself in the second para. Simply put the problem is not free speech but the violence that ensued as a result.
Various states have tried to outlaw flag burning and flag desecration over the years but all these attempts failed. Flag burning is offensive but it is expressive conduct (read: free speech) and is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. In the U.S. there is that strong tradition and committment to the protection of liberty in all its forms – free speech, freedom of religion, free press etc. But like the Secretary of State correctly points out there are disagreements throughout the international community over where the “outer limits” may be of that freedom.
In Malaysia as you and I know those “outer limits” are not so far out. To begin with there is no Bill of Rights. There is no tradition of any kind to speak of. Over here we can burn the effigy of the U.S. President, burn the flag and call him by any name imaginable. In Malaysia burning Najib’s photograph would best be done in your backyard and limited to family members while having a barbeque.
“But who takes notice of such reasoning by the US State Secretary when irresponsible free speech is allowed to touch a very raw nerve and highly charged religious sentiment such as what this video clip which was broadcast on Youtube did.” — frank
Nowhere in her speech did the Secretary of State use the phrase “irresponsible free speech”.
Having said that, even in the Land of fhe Free and Home of the Brave, the courts have developed tests or levels of scrutiny in cases involving fundamental liberties.
Even in the U.S. there is a category known as unprotected speech best remembered by the acronym FIDO. F=fighting words I=incitement to imminent violence D= defamation and O=obscenity.
The producer of that video is now in hiding.
What SOP? Was Khir Toyo handcuffed? Was Shahrizat’s husband handcuffed? For that matter Tun Ling LS? Chan Kong Choy? While we are at it, why no action taken against those who burnt/stepped/urinated on PR leaders’ photographs? If it is double standard, no matter how many clarifications/explanation it is still DOUBLE STANDARD!
“The photograph of a 19-year-old in handcuffs on the front page of this newspaper last week drew yet again, unnecessary attention on the Police Force. For the umpteenth time, the image of the force took another knock.”
What’s the big deal here? There is no requirement to prove somebody as being a flight risk before he or she can be cuffed. What is really in issue is their discriminate use when it involves different individuals.
The CPC refers to “arrest” and when a person is considered under arrest and how it is to be made. In Malaysia there is no real significance as to when a person is under arrest. As a matter of comparison in the U.S. the timing is critical and it coincides with protection afforded to the accused person under the country’s Constitution. For an arrest to be made the accused person has to be told the reason for his or her arrest and his and her rights must then be read out ( a process known as Mirandized following a case by the same name in the ’60s). If the person under arrest then asks to speak to his attorney, the questioning must stop immediately until an attorney appears. If it continues then anything he says to the police is inadmissible in evidence in court later on. The protection given to the accused person in Malaysia (if any) like in U.K. is weak. There are provisions in the country’s Evidence Act that declares evidence (confession) gained as a result of torture or inducement inadmissible in a court of law and “fruits of the poisonous tree” type evidence.
Cuffing an individual is done routinely here. It does not have to involve a felony. The police is just the police. Malaysians attach too much significance. But I guess it will change over time.
Mr Bean, I am talking about the PRICE of free speech in US… a price which Americans overseas might have to pay as what is happening now with that highly offensive anti-islam video.
If the US as a country cannot rein in, through whatever means it has because of its ideal of protecting free speech, even if it is irresponsible, the religious far right psycho like that pastor who tried to burn the Koran last year and now the video which was put on youtube to instigate greater damage, American citizens might as well pack out of countries where there are muslims living.
Even moderate and liberal muslims will take strong offence to burning of Koran and that video clip….America can shout at the top of the hill about free speech, but as long as it cannot or refuse to rein in irresponsible free speech, American’s freedom to move around outside of America will not be free.
The issue is the price of free speech. Innocent Americans paid that price. Violence of any sort is despicable but fundamentalist muslims don’t see it necessarily that way.
Here is the catch. If any body in US who wants to damage the US i with the rest of the muslim world… easy, just use the free speech enabling clause and do what the chaps behind this video and adopt the same attitude and behaviour of that pastor who wanted to publicly burn the Koran. It is no wonder ordinary muslims in other countries don’t go after the perpetrators because they cannot hunt them down, so what do they do, they go after innocent Americans and the American establishment.
A JOKER certainly….
i. He cannott guarantee Anwar’s safety…indirectly give the hooligans the green lights.
ii. He was surprised that Chow Kit was full of foreigners.
iii. Self proclaimed their KPIs improve..where most residents pay for own
security guards.
…..the list goes on…
May ALLAH bless Malaysia.
PDRM is a branch of UMNO. Period. They are not interested in law enforcement . –Din Merican
PdRM = UMNO militia?
Perkasa = UMNO bullhorn (failed unidirectional megaphone)?
What about Rela, 4B and a host of other wonderful Acronyms?
Even Felda and Risda have UMNO paramount – the super-duper corrupted and child rapists.
Remember what that butch ex-Tourism Minister said? “We are the Law!”
I believe she was quoting Dirty Harry and Judge Dredd.
Did they also cuff that 14yr old boy who ‘incested’ his 15yr old sister? Disgusting. Even the sheep and goats are not spared. Lucky, i’m a dog..
The problem of law enforcement stems from double-standards practised by the top leadership.
When protesters drag a cow head across the street in Shah Alam, the Home Minister implicitly approved and supported the despicable act which he should have condemned outright! It was the same thing when UMNO/Perkasa protesters pee’ed on Lim Kit Siang’s banners, when Perkasa organised a mock funeral for Penang Chief Minister, when the Ghani Mamak fella presented Lim Guan Eng with a coffin and later with birthday cakes in the shape of human poo! The leaders like Najib and the IGP and the Home Minister kept quiet. Even the cops in Penang stayed a distance away…
But people are not stupid. The rakyat are just watching quietly and with disgust and they will speak up at the ballot boxes, that is for sure…
On July 1st 2011, after Friday prayers, a street demo headed by Senator Ezam Empat Kotak led a violent rampage of Perkasa Youth and Umno Youth members from Pitt Street Penang all the way to the CM’s office in KOMTAR. Cars were damaged and traffic was at a standstill, anyone in yellow or driving yellow cars were threatened, what did the leadership say? Nothing? The police? They conveniently stayed a comfortable distance away…
On that same day, when the same group of Perkasa and UMNO Youth members were driving back to KL, they stopped their vehicles on Penang Bridge in haphazard way and this caused traffic jam of up to 15 km on both sides of the bridge. Imagine the emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire engines should they be on their way to attend emergencies… What did the police IGP do? Nothing? What did the leadership say? Nothing?
And what did he say when veteran soldiers bare their butts at Dato S Ambiga in front of her private residence? Nothing! And they did not bother to take action when hundreds of Mat Rempits who rode their loud kapchais into the quiet housing estate where Dato Ambiga stays.
Now he says it is not Malaysian to mooning of his and his wife’s picture? So its OK to do do all the other stuff but when some people moon on his pictures, and he says it is unMalaysian, sudahlah Najib… You are not my Prime Minister and you do not have the quality to be one anyway…
At the early stage of my life I had high respect for the police force simply because a friend whose father was a police officer bragged about the Malaysian police being among the best in the world for being able to identify crime suspects in very short time. However that perception changed when one of my football buddies was arrested everytime there was petty crime reported in the area, to be identified as a suspect. He would come out from the lock-up like a vegetable and it took him some time to recover. I wonder if he had ever recovered from those internal injuries sustained by the police’s physical abuse.
Like one ex-ISA detainee said, who will not confess to a crime he didn’t do after being physically abused for 60 days non-stop. Today I can’t help having the perception that our PDRM is as bad as the Israel’s police force.
And of course Din is right in saying that PDRM is a branch of UMNO serving its political master.
When the IGP stands in front of a mirror, he sees Najib and him hugging one another in the mirror.
PDRM = Pukul Dia Runtuh Mati.
Frank,
Let’s not be naive. The turmoil now spreading from Libya to Egypt, and then to Yemen, Tunisia, Sudan has little to do with a failed movie producer whose movie didn’t get the response he was hoping when it was shown in a movie theater in Semper fi’s backyard. He then made certain changes and gave a twist to the character George. George became Mohammed – and that played into the psyche of crazies half the world away.
If we attribute everything to the movie then we are missing the bigger picture. Eighteen months ago Egyptians were welcoming the Americans saying they loved freedom. Now a different crowd (underline ‘different’) has taken over the Tahrir Squate screaming “Death to America”.
More U.S. flags are being burnt across the continent. All that because of a movie?? You and I know it is much much more than that.
Details are coming out about what happened in Benghazi was a coordinated attack which was planned.
Netanyahu had earlier inserted himself into the crisis to get a leverage with the Obama Administration. President wannabe Mitt Romney took cheap political shots at the U.S. President before he even knew what happened in Libya and Eqypt.. He had the luxury of making whatever statements he saw fit but as the sitting President, Obama has to be careful, circumspect as events were still unfolding. He has to think through and consider all the ramifications before making his statement. As it turned out wannabe President Mitt Romney was out of his depth as he got the facts wrong. He is clearly unfit to occupy the Oval Office, the most powerful office in the world.
It is unfortunate our bloghost did not see it fit to open a thread devoted to the turmoil now unfolding in the Middle East. Any demonstration planned by UMNO Youth and PAS in front of the U.S. Embassy in KL?
In London, they are burning the U.S. and Israel flags as I work my keyboard.
Or worse “If you don’t behave I’ll take you to the dentist”! But in Britain, at least in my days, children were brought up to treat policemen as their friends, for example “If you want to know the time, ask a policeman”. And in my town, policemen walked around, knew all the shopkeepers, sent their children to ‘my’ school and when they were off duty you would see them shopping with their families. It was one of those small, country towns where everyone knew each other.
in those days the police personnels were malay, chinese and indians. there were policemen whom you can bribe and those whom you better not try to.
as an 14 year old in school uniform I once paid a policeman RM1.50 as bribe for riding a motorbike without a license. having seen all the gangster activities and indiscriminate actions of the police force in the sixties, I’ll say the integrity of the police force was questionable even in those times.
Mr. Bean if you had seen the BBC 9 o’clock (CET) news last night you’ll know that the riots began after the Friday prayers. unless and until religion and politics are divorced from each other the muslim world would continue to be ruled by frenzied mobs. an insult to islam.
the actual agitators were a small number but the damage they’ve done is colossal.