‘Entire police force on crime prevention’

A crime analyst Kamal Affandi Hashim has suggested that MBs and CMs of all the states start monitoring vice-dens where “gangsters gather”.

(Bernama) – Almost 80 percent of the entire Royal Malaysian Police Force (PDRM), including the Crime Investigation Department (CID), are assigned to crime prevention duties nationwide, Inspector-General of Police Secretariat (Corporate Communications) assistant head ACP Ramli Mohamed said yesterday.

He stressed that the entire force was involved in fighting crime and it was unfair for certain quarters to label the force as inactive, based merely on the nine percent mobilised under the CID.

“Don’t look at it from just the CID angle. The entire police force is on crime prevention, from the district police chiefs to the police station chiefs are on general duty,” he said.

He was commenting commenting on DAP secretary-general  Lim Guan Eng’s statement on the force, on Wednesday.

In his statement, Lim claimed that the police had only allocated nine percent of the total force to the CID for crime prevention duties.

He also announced the appointment of DAP national vice-chairman Teresa Kok as head of the party’s Crime Action Taskforce (CAT) to seek an increase from the present 10,150 (nine percent) in the CID to 50 percent or 56,000 of the entire force.

“We are also actively involved in various community, non-governmental organisations, public and private sector programmes aimed at preventing crimes,” he said.

Apart from that, motorbike and MPV patrols and community policing have been stepped up to help the CID as well, he added.

Meanwhile, crime analyst Kamal Affandi Hashim told Bernama: “Any organisation is free to make suggestions, but it must be studied thoroughly before being implemented.”

“There are a number of departments within the police force. If we allocate 50 percent of the personnel to the CID, then who is going to manage the traffic, narcotics and special branch departments for example,” he said.

He suggested that the Menteris Besar and Chief Ministers of all the states should start monitoring the entertainment outlets and vice dens, within their jurisdictions.

“Because that’s where the gangsters gather and carry out their criminal activities,” he said.