Are our cops getting enough training?

THE recent spate of custodial deaths highlights a longstanding issue of poor police investigation skills. Going by court proceedings and news reports, our cops appear to be too reliant on witnesses to come forward or for tip-offs for leads. 

 

The kind of forensic investigations as seen in crime shows such as CSI, where a piece of gum from a shoe can – via super-duper, super-fast trace analysis – lead the crime lab to the perpetrator, are unheard of here. (Crime show producers take liberties to tell their story, resulting in compressed timeline for tests, and computer software that borders on genius – but the underlying science is already in use.)

 

In fact, DNA analysis is actually in its infancy here, with a lot of the forensic testing sent to labs overseas.

 

And when evidence is present, in some cases, they are poorly recorded and preserved – remember Anwar’s Sodomy II trial? And the chain of evidence – crucial to ensure there is no tampering – sometimes not adhered to (who can forget how 40kg of drugs that were part of a 700kg drug haul were discovered to have gone missing during a trial, leading to the suspect being acquitted by the Kuantan high court).

 

There have also been cases of judges admonishing the DPP and the investigation team for shoddy work.

 

This worries me. Are police personnel not getting the training they need to do their jobs effectively? Or is it that they are just unaware of how important it is to follow police and forensic protocol, to ensure that investigations into a case are airtight before it goes to court.

 

Nothing says “waste of public money” more than having cases thrown out due to slip shod investigation by the police. 

 

I also wonder whether this lack of training is also partly responsible for the custodial deaths in lock-ups.

 

Are cops resorting to beating up suspects, even torturing them, in order to get them to confess their crimes, or finger someone else at least, because this is the quickest, and perhaps only way how they know to get leads?