Youths being instigated to hate the police, claims Selangor’s top cop
“Selangor police will not apologise to the family of 14 year-old Aminulrasyid Amzah as they did not accuse or brand him and his friend as criminals” – Selangor CPO
(The Star) – There seems to be a concerted effort by certain quarters to get children and youths to hate the police, Selangor police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar claimed.
He alleged that posting on Facebook and comments on certain blogs indicated that there were irresponsible people urging youths to criticise, hate and defy the police.
“Here we are trying our very best to build bridges with the public and getting them to assist us in crime prevention, but on the other hand, there are people out there instigating youths, especially teenagers, to hate us,” he said when contacted Wednesday.
DCP Khalid said parents must teach their children to respect and not break the law.
He said parents must be responsible for their children’s actions and must know who they were with and what they were doing at all times.
He also said parents and guardians should not neglect their responsibility or shift the blame on others if something were to happen.
“Although we have been criticised and attacked by all quarters, I want to assure the public that we will not let such attacks demoralise us.
“We have a job to do and it is our responsibility to ensure peace and security continues to prevail at all times,” he added.
DCP Khalid also slammed an online news portal for distorting his statement about not wanting to apologise to the family of Aminulrasyid Amzah, the 14-year-old student who was fatally shot by police on April 26.
He said at no time did the police accuse Amimulrasyid of being a suspected criminal.
He said what his officers had stated at the time of the incident was that the policemen in the patrol car acted in the manner they did because they thought the people in the car they were chasing were suspected to be criminals.
“How were we to know at that time of the chase that the people in the car who defied orders from our men to stop were 14-year-old boys?
“My men acted because they thought only criminals would behave in such a manner,” he said, adding that he saw no reason why he should apologise to the family when there was no direct reference made to Aminulrasyid or his friend Azamuddin Omar, who was also in the car.
He said at no time did he state to the portal’s reporter that they gave chase to the schoolboys who were suspected criminals.
“As I have said, how could we have known at that time they were schoolboys?” he added.
