PDRM — your service provider

By Tan Sri Musa Hassan

In facing challenges, the police remain true to their first duty and calling – that of serving one, serving all. But policing today is tougher compared to when the force was first established.

PLEASE contact your service provider” is the message that constantly appears on any mobile communication device these days when something malfunctions.

So who do you contact when society malfunctions? The nation’s key “public” service provider – the police, of course.

I joined the force in 1969 as a young trainee inspector and to this day, I wear my badge with pride and passion that extend beyond mere sentimentality attached to a shiny piece of metal I wear on my chest.

Along with 100,000 others, I am a proud member of the Royal Malaysia Police Force.

Our passion and vocation is one of service – service to the King, the nation and the community. We are the nation’s “Enforcers of Law and Order”.

As with any other service provider, expectations of us are high, criticism is flung at us with abandon, and blame is levelled at us freely and easily.

This is not unique to Malaysia as worldwide, law enforcers have borne the brunt of the blame and venom of anger for the problems society faces – a heavy and often unfair burden to bear.

In the face of all these challenges, we remain true to our first duty and calling – that of serving one, serving all. But policing today is tougher compared to when the force was first established.

While new innovations and technology have aided society colossally, they have also made it so much easier for criminals to operate and crimes to be committed.

While our services and operations have evolved in line with current trends, technology and methods, no single law enforcement agency can effectively combat crime working in isolation.

We still need one essential element to help us carry out our duties effectively – the cooperation and support of the community we serve.

We have to all come together, work together towards a common aim of eradicating crime and criminal elements in this society.

We have to realise that the fight against crime is a common, shared responsibility.

As a community, we are all individually and collectively responsible for our unique roles in fighting crime and social ills. Community involvement in the fight against crime is essential in any civil society.

Law enforcers patrol areas concerned periodically but cannot possibly be everywhere, watching everything, for there are too few of us in numbers at the moment.

It is members of the community who can best identify the problems they face, the dangers that lurk in their neighbourhoods, the suspicious characters and the threats to their security.

As law enforcement officers, policemen are public servants first and foremost, but I call on everyone to rise to the challenge of playing their part in the fight against crime from its roots.

As members of the community, we each have an individual responsibility to our neighbour – we have to play a part to ensure that our neighbour, our housing area and our society is safe.

We appeal to you to be our ears, our eyes in instances and situations when we cannot be there.

Provide us with relevant information, report suspicious behaviour, call on us if you feel unsafe, and work with us to enable us to serve you better.

Community policing programmes are in no way novel. In fact, they form the fabric of almost every law enforcement agency in the world.

Malaysia is no different – we started this initiative way back in the 1960s and since then, the platform has evolved over time in response to the changing social and economic situation of our country.

Over the years, we have increased our interaction with the community in an effort to reach out to you, and secure greater cooperation and support. Today, you will see more community police stations, more community police beats, meetings with residents associations, educational institutions, traders, etc.

Our Rakancop programme is growing from strength to strength – more and more people are coming forward to assist with investigations, provide us with vital information and work on various platforms from which crime prevention strategies are devised.

However, public involvement is still lagging behind – we have 27 million Malaysians and only 100,000 police personnel – we still need more Malaysians to come forward and participate.

As parents, teachers, siblings and friends, we all have a moral duty to shape the society we live in and shape the society our children will live in one day.

This united effort is the key to tackling issues at the grassroots level.

It takes a joint and concerted effort to nurture our future generation to be law-abiding and not only disassociated from all criminal activity but also take an active stand against crime and criminal elements.

Let’s work together.

Let’s be united against crime – we are at your service and we need your service.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan welcomes comments and can be contacted at [email protected]